One of the challenges driven by the limited capacity of the education sector in the Pacific is low skill levels and high youth unemployment. The impacts of COVID-19 have exacerbated youth unemployment issues, with young women and Person with Disabilities (PWD) affected the most. While there are potential economic impacts, there are also increased risks of social disengagement, poorer health outcomes and unsafe behaviours.
The project supports economic opportunities for youth in two ways:
- Professional Development of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) / Education Providers
- Skills and Leadership Training for Youth, Young Women and PWD
Through professional development of TVET education providers, the project provides in-service training opportunities that TVET trainers can access using remote and distance learning methodologies to improve the quality of their teaching. Enhanced capacity of TVET trainers will improve quality of TVET instruction and result in increased access to high quality learning and training opportunities for youth.
After desk research and a wide consultation with TVET stakeholder groups, the TVET Online Toolkit was developed. Commonwealth of Learning has a partnership with nine TVET institutions to build the capacity of TVET trainers using the Toolkit.
- Don Bosco Rural Training Centre, Solomon Islands
- Kauma Adventist High School, Kiribati
- Iarowari-Agro Technical School, Papua New Guinea
- Ituani Vocational Skills Centre, Vanuatu
- Kiribati Teachers College
- Montfort Technical Institute, Tonga
- Pacific Polytech, Fiji
- Papua New Guinea National Department of Education TVET section
- The National University of Samoa
The project also aims to build the entrepreneurial and leadership skills of youth, particularly out-of -school youth and those that are unemployed, with a focus on young women and PWD. The project will work with local NGOs to build their capacity to leverage ODL by supporting ODFL, developing structures and strategies to deliver leadership/vocational courses. Commonwealth of Learning has partnership with three NGOs to provide skills training for youths.