THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

THEME: COMBATING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT THROUGH VET

Addressing Youth Unemployment Through TVET: Policy Perspective In Tanzania Paper Presented at the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Forum held at Naura Springs Hotel, in Arusha, Tanzania from 10 - 11 December, 2014 By MR. THOMAS D. KATEBALIRWE Director of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Ministry of Education and Vocational Training 1

Abstract The youth employment challenge has its own dimensions and confronts countries worldwide regardless of their stage of socio-economic development. Youth Unemployment needs to be addressed critically by all nations including Tanzania. Youth make up the next generation of parents, workers and leaders of any nation. Their well being, therefore, has implications not only for their own lives, but also on the societies they will build and maintain. Their ability to play effective roles depend on the support of their families, communities and on commitment of governments to their development. The paper whose purpose is to address youth unemployment through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) based on the policy perspective in Tanzania appreciates that youth unemployment is a global problem. The paper provides the basic information on the key definitions and gives overview of the crisis including causes of youth unemployment in Tanzania. The paper highlights on the role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and how the TVET structures, policies, plans strategies, and programs are set up in the context of Tanzania in addressing youth unemployment. It further highlights some of the initiatives the Government of Tanzania has put in place to address the issue. It also highlights on recommended interventions to be put in place to address youth unemployment. The paper finally gives conclusions on how the matter can further be approached by involving all key stakeholders. Key Word: Youth, Youth Unemployment, Labour Market, TVET, Tanzania

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1. INTRODUCTION Essentially, youth unemployment continues to be a development challenge globally and in several African countries including Tanzania despite the positive economic growth rates experienced over the past decade. There are indicators that this growth has not generated sufficient employment opportunities for the youth (UNECA, 2011, 2012). As a result, unemployment, working poverty, vulnerable employment and underemployment are widespread amongst Africa’s youth. Moreover, the demographics indicate that Africa is going through a youth bulge with a large proportion of its population below 25 years of age (Kararach, 2011). It is evident that insufficient employment opportunities amidst a rapidly growing young labour force can lead to social unrest and political instability. The difficulties faced by young people in most developing countries in finding work are attributed to limited expansion of employment opportunities, skills mismatches and limited or no work experience (AfDB et al., 2012). As a result, most African youth engage in low quality informal sector jobs. The informal sector accounts for about 90 percent of the jobs created in the continent (World Bank, 2009). Youth has been in the spotlight ever since the economic and financial crisis began in 2008 which revealed its large impact on youth employment. Stimulus packages, consultations, and private and public investments on youth became the trend. Despite the response to the crisis, the global youth unemployment rate does not seem to give in. Policymakers, social partners, and the global youth development community continue seeking answers to the youth employment challenge. There are about 1.2 billion youth, aged 15 to 24, and nearly 75 million of them are 3

looking for a job. Such a sizeable youth cohort is an opportunity for growth but can also become a source of instability if youth unemployment and discouragement are not addressed. Many countries around the world are now trying to bridge the gap between education and work by upgrading Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions at various levels and encouraging them to form closer relations with industries, and embracing apprenticeships. There is great cry by employers that there mismatch between the skills that youth offer and the ones that employees need. Definitions of Youth and unemployment While the World Bank (2013) defines unemployment as the share of the labour force that is without work but available for and seeking employment, International Labour Organization (2012) defines as the status of individuals above a specified age who are without work, currently available for work, and actively seeking work. There are several youth definitions depending on the social, economic and political environment. The United Nations along with most other international organizations define youth in terms of youth unemployment as comprising all persons between the ages of 15 and 24 (ILO, 2011). However, the Government of Tanzania defines youth as people aged 15 – 35 years. Others, define youth unemployment refers to the share of the labour force ages 15-24 without work but available for and seeking employment. The unemployment rate is defined as the number of unemployed youth (typically 15-24 years) divided by the youth labour force (employment + unemployment).

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Global Youth Unemployment Situation There is no disagreement that youth unemployment is an emerging issue and is among the major challenges facing both developed and developing countries in the world. The global youth unemployment rate, which had decreased from 12.7 per cent in 2009 to 12.3 per cent in 2011, increased again to 12.4 per cent in 2012, and has continued to grow to 12.6 per cent in 2013. In total, 74.5 million young people aged 15–24 were unemployed in 2013, an increase of more than 700,000 over the previous year. There were 37.1 million fewer young people in employment in 2013 than in 2007, while the global youth population declined by only 8.1 million over the same period. By 2018 the global youth unemployment rate is projected to rise to 12.8 per cent, with growing regional disparities, as expected improvements in advanced economies will be offset by increases in youth unemployment in other regions. There is considerable consensus that the roots of today’s youth unemployment crisis lie in a toxic mix of global economic trends: poor global macroeconomic performance; growing youth populations in developing regions; labor market structures and regulations; and the quality and relevance of education, resulting in a skills mismatch. Tanzania Youth Unemployment Situation According to the 2012 national population and housing census, the Tanzanian Labour force (ages 15 – 64) is 23,466,616 which is equivalent to 52.2% of the total population; and the youth (ages 15 – 35) is 15,587,621 (equivalent to 66.4% of the

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labour force). The unemployment rate amongst young people aged 15 – 24 years is 13.4%. Causes of Youth Unemployment Generally, youth unemployment is characterized by various causes some of which include: Imbalance between supply and demand of labour in the labour market; Increasing of urban employment pressures with outflow of rural surplus labour to non-agricultural sectors; Few available employment opportunities against a fast growing pool of employment seekers; Good number of laid-off employees - some faced with difficulties of re-employment;. A number of youth remaining in the Labour Market

for long period without accessing employment; Freezing

employment by the Public Sector; Limited capacity of the Private Sector in absorbing a bigger number of new labour entrants; Low labour productivity at enterprise level including in rural settings; lack of requisite skills and experience sought by industry due to mismatch of TVET acquired skills and industry expectation; Poor access to information on available opportunities; Gender and cultural biases; Ethnicity and corruption; Unfavorable geographical distribution of jobs; and Limited career guidance and Limited financial resources. 2. THE ROLE OF TVET ON YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT In view of the youth unemployment challenge, many governments are investing considerably in Technical and vocational education and training (TVET). TVET is important as a set of approaches to learning, both as preparation for the world of work, and for well-being later in adult life. On the other hand, TVET can make an important contribution to skills, as well as to human resource development 6

policies and strategies that are designed to meet the various local, national, regional and global labour market needs. TVET can effectively address youth unemployment, a major challenge in Africa, generate hope rather than frustration and engender peace instead of strife. The existence of quality TVET programs can form the basis for more sophisticated and specialized skills required as countries develop. Links have to be seen to be established between TVET institutions and industry for securing employment. Furthermore, the products and services rendered by TVET graduates must be of high quality to survive competition from other sources. TVET needs to develop the knowledge and skills that will help the workforce become more flexible and responsive to the needs of local labour markets, while competing in the global economy. TVET’s orientation towards the world of work and the acquisition of employable skills means that it is well placed to overcome the skills mismatch issues that have impeded smooth education to employment transitions for many young people. Recent evidence suggests that TVET yields higher returns than either general secondary education or higher education, mainly because its focus is on providing work‐relevant skills (Kuepie et al, 2009; Herschbach, 2009). Developing Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) opportunities for youth is key to develop and promote employment opportunities in both urban and rural areas. Unemployment can be high if the economy is not growing fast enough to generate jobs, but also if the jobs are there but people have the wrong education and skills.

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TVET Programs and Labour Market linkage in Tanzania There is an urgent need to transform TVET so that more youth have opportunities to develop the skills they need for work and life. TVET Programs to equip youth with the hard skills for the world of work must provide a combination of classroom education with workplace training, and impart soft skills such as communication, problem solving and entrepreneurship awareness. The skills acquired from the TVET institutions and the skills required by the labour market must match to allow the effective application of the skills acquired from training to the work place. Otherwise, young people will find it difficult to find a job, to stay in employment, to move on in the workplace, and, more broadly, to succeed in lifelong learning. The relevance of TVET is measured by the productive employment that graduates find after training. TVET can bring about reduction in unemployment, and also has a positive role to play in improving the productivity of all workers and enhance the skills of those in the various industries and equip the unemployed with employable skills. If Tanzania is to become one among the Middle Income Countries in the world by the year 2025, its leaders must properly equip TVET institutions with the state-ofthe art equipment and facilities, staff them with well trained professional teachers and develop relevant and up-to-date TVET programs. Consistently, TVET programs frequently provide training for a specific job, yet employment opportunities and the fast changing technology require adaptability and permanent skills development. Hence, increasing employability requires consideration of both short and long-term perspectives, enabling young people to 8

seize immediate employment opportunities while also equipping them with the ability to continue learning and be able to adjust to changes in the workplace and career opportunities. The Public and Private Sectors should recognize that TVET is an investment, not a cost, with significant returns, including the well-being of workers, enhanced productivity and international competitiveness. Therefore funding for TVET should be shared to the maximum extent possible between government, industry, the community and the learner, with government providing appropriate financial incentives. Furthermore, the Government of Tanzania should seek bilateral and multilateral capacity-building cooperation in TVET. TVET Structures, policies, plans, strategies and programs From a policy point of view, it is clear that up to now, the Government of Tanzania has taken considerable steps towards addressing the problem of youth unemployment by setting up structures and numerous policies, plans, strategies and programs. These include: Coordination and Provision of TVET The Government of Tanzania has a well established Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (DTVET) in the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) that coordinates all matters pertaining to the development of TVET Sector in the country. The Department of TVET oversees two Quality Regulating bodies which are the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) for Technical Education and Training (TET) and Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) for Vocational Education and Training (VET). Basic 9

Statistics in Tanzania (BEST, 2013) indicate that provision of TVET is currently undertaken at

1068 public and private registered TVET institutions owned by

Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Private, Community and Faith Based Organizations. NACTE has by 2013 registered 324 public and private Technical Institutions with a total enrolment of 113,080 learners and while VETA has registered 744 public and private Vocational Education and Training

and Folk

Development Centers with enrollment of 145,511 learners. Quality Regulation of TVET There are two autonomous Quality Regulating bodies overlooking quality provision of TVET. The National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) and the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA). NACTE oversees and coordinates the provision of technical education and training (TET)

in all tertiary education

institutions, other than universities and their affiliated colleges, delivering courses at technician, semi-professional and professional levels leading to awards of certificates, diplomas, degrees and other related awards. VETA oversees and coordinates the provision of vocational education and training (VET) to all vocational training institutions as regards to their legality and programs. TVET Qualifications Framework NACTE in collaboration with VETA have established the TVET Qualifications Framework that gives a range of awards and certification conferred to successful students for various fields of TVET. The awards and certification are known as the National Technical Awards (NTA) for the Technical Education and Training (TET) levels and National Vocational Training Award (NVA) for the Vocational Education 10

and Training (VET) levels. On completion of training at various levels graduates qualify with various certification which include: NVA Level

1 qualify for

Certificate of Competence I; NVA Level 2 qualify for Certificate of Competence II; NVA Level 3 qualify for Certificate of Competence III; NTA Level 4 qualify for Basic Technician Certificate; NTA Level 5 qualify for Technician Certificate; NTA Level 6 qualify for Ordinary Diploma; NTA Level 7 qualify for Higher Diploma; NTA Level 8 qualify for Bachelor’s Degree; NTA Level 9 qualify for Masters Degree; and NTA Level 10 qualify for Doctorate Degree.

Financing of TVET The government, private sector, NGO’s, and religious organizations as well as bilateral and multilateral organizations are the financiers of TVET. The Skills Development Levy (SDL) of 1/3 out 5% of the GDP finances vocational education and training (VET) while technical education and training gets a 10 percentage out of the remaining 2/3 of SDL. The Tanzania Education Fund managed by Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) partly supports post secondary TVET Institutions. The Tanzania Higher Education Students Loan Board (HESLB) provides interest free loans to students undertaking TVET diploma in education programs and undergraduate TVET programs. Policies on TVET that relate to youth and employment There are employment and economic policies to increase aggregate demand and improve access to finance; education and training policies to ease the school‐to‐work transition and to prevent labour market mismatches; 11

labour

market policies to target employment of disadvantaged youth; entrepreneurship and self‐employment to assist potential young entrepreneurs; and labour rights that are based on international labour standards to ensure that young people receive equal treatment. Some of these policies include: The Education and Training Policy (2014); Technical Education and Training Policy (1996); National Youth Development Policy (2007); National Employment Policy (2008); National Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Policy; and the National Sustainable Industrial Development Policy (1996). Development plans, programs, protocols and resolutions The Tanzania Development vision 2025;

The Strategy for Growth and Poverty

Reduction II (MKUKUTA II); The Tanzania FYDP 2011/2012 -2015/2016; The Tanzania Long-Term Perspective Plan (LTPP), 2011/12-2025/26; Millennium Development

Goals (MDG); UNESCO

Educational

Protocols; African Union

Educational Protocols; SADC Educational Protocols; and East African Community Educational Protocols. Education Sub Sector Programs Adult Education and Non-formal Education Programme (AEFNDP, 2012 -2017); Higher Education Development Programme (HEDP, 2010-2015); Technical and Vocational Education Development Programme (TVETDP, 2013- 2018). 3. INITIATIVES IN TVET FOR ADDRESSING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT Considerable attention by the Government of Tanzania has put up initiatives with clear decent work relevance in addressing youth unemployment through TVET. These involved the development and implementation of the following: 12

a) The Tanzania FYDP 2011/2012 -2015/2016 with the goal: Re-orient human capital development towards achieving the development goals in the key productive sectors (agriculture, mining, and manufacturing) and economic infrastructure (energy, ICT, and transport). b) The Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction II (MKUKUTA II) with the goal: Ensuring expansion of

vocational, technical, polytechnics, and

higher

education, and improving non-formal and continuing education. c) The VETA Corporate Plan 2012/2013-2016/2017 with goals: Improved equitable access to VET: Increased employability of VET graduates; Enhanced VET management capacity and financing; and MVTTC Strengthened as a College of Excellence for TVET Professionals and Managers. d) The Five Years (2013/2014 – 2017/2018 ) Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development (TVETDP) Program whose focus areas are: Access and Equity in TVET; Quality of TVET Output; Capacity to provide quality TVET; and Monitoring and Evaluation of TVET. e) The Tanzania Long-Term Perspective Plan (LTPP), 2011/12-2025/26: Objectives being: To increase access and promote equity at all levels of education and training: the enrolment into tertiary education should rise from the current 1.5 percent to at least 10 percent; To bridge the skills gap to ensure that the lack of skilled labour does not remain a binding constraint to economic growth after 2015 thus aim to increase the proportion of the population with high qualifications to 12 percent, and to 34 percent for the population with medium qualifications, by 2025; Creating a learning-friendly educational environment; 13

Training and deploying the adequate number of teachers; To raise retention rates at all levels of education. 4. INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT Interestingly, the Tanzanian Government must play its constitutional responsibility of creating enabling socio-economic and political environment by employing interventions geared to the attainment of quality TVET output at the same time creating a friendly climate for investment by industries. This will encourage investors to invest and thereby create jobs in order to absorb the unemployed youths from our TVET institutions. Some recommended interventions to ensure quality TVET output that fulfills requirements for productive youth employment and decent work is achieved through collaborative key stakeholders include: a) To raise the public profile and attractiveness of TVET among learners, families and all other stakeholders, including through the media, and inform them on the possibilities for progression, employment and self fulfillment that TVET can offer. b) To design TVET Programs to help youth themselves become much more better users of real-time labor market information, more knowledgeable about career paths, better decision-makers about short- and long-term skills acquisition, and more socially competent navigators of the job search and hiring process. c) To develop and adopt continuous review, validation of the TVET Curricula and Programs so that they are modularized, flexible and adaptable to the fast changes in technology and relevant to the industrial and individual needs.

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d) To create national youth development strategies, convening multi-stakeholder discussions and ensuring that educators, businesses, and young people themselves play an appropriate role in creating a skilled and dynamic workforce. e) To strengthen public and private partnership so as to have substantial investment

in

TVET

in

ensuring

the

relevance,

competitiveness

and

affordability of its institutions in order to develop the TVET sub sector. f) To update infrastructure, and modernize training equipment, facilities, workshops and building in order to create a conducive teaching and learning environment for quality output ready for the productive employment and decent work. g) To recruit competent lectures/trainers and instructors, and also train and retrain those already in TVET

sub sector and ensure their retention for

efficiency and effective delivery in TVET institutions. h) To support flexible pathways and the accumulation, recognition and transfer of individual learning through transparent, well articulated outcome based qualifications systems; reliable measures for assessment, recognition and validation of qualifications. i) To strengthen TVET institutions so as to provide quality training in Tanzania’s rapid economic growth of fast growing, capital intensive sectors where youth employment opportunities are high. j) To improve gender equality by promoting equal access of females and males to TVET programs, particularly in fields where there is strong labour market 15

demand, and by ensuring that TVET curricula and materials avoid stereotyping by gender. k) To strengthen and develop effective research capacity into TVET, with a view to developing the information base and promoting more evidence -based policy making. l) To establish more TVET institutions in the rural areas and ensure emphasis at providing TVET skills to meet the needs of the community in that particular locality. m) To

ensure

the

government

implements

policies

that

encourages

entrepreneurship training among rural people in order to curb the rural urban migration and its adverse effect on unemployment. n) To enhance awareness among employers and convince them to agree to employ /facilitate on-the job training for young graduates when appropriate. o) To have a greater number of internships and apprenticeship systems in a broad range of disciplines and available to all segments of the youth population, particularly those who experience the most difficulties in accessing and completing education, such as young people living in extreme poverty and in rural areas, young women and youth with disabilities. 5. CONCLUSION There is no debate that investing in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will set the potential to serve Tanzania’s working population by bridging the skills gap and help improve the productivity and diversify the economy if it addresses well youth unemployment. This requires well coordinated 16

supports and incentives to come from all key stakeholders, including employers, trade unions, NGOs, and naturally from youth themselves to work together to make that happen. Youth unemployment will only be effectively addressed if the youth themselves also undergo through some culture/attitude/perception change from job seeking orientation to job creating orientation. Equally important is the youth developing a culture of patience to remain in jobs as they continue to search for better jobs even if the jobs that are engaged in do not match their expectations. The need for action is as urgent now as ever before, otherwise this trend will continue for years to come. All of us have a stake in the economic integration of youth into this economy, to keep the engines of development running strong through our lifetimes and those of the next generation.

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World

of

Work:

Bridging

Academic

and

Vocational

Learning

(Bonn:Springer). ILO (2012) 'The Youth Employment Crisis: A Time for Action'. ILO, Geneva. ILO (2014) 'Global Employment Trends 2014.Risk of jobless Recovery?'ILO. Geneva. ILO (2014) 'Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013.A generation at Risk' ILO. Geneva. ILO (2011) 'A Skilled Workforce for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. A G20 Training Strategy' ILO. Geneva. Kararach George, Kobena T. Hanson and Frannie A. Léautier (2011) Regional 'Integration Policies to Support Job Creation for Africa's Burgeoning Youth Population, ACBF Working Paper No.21'. Zimbabwe. Kuepie, M, Nordman, C. and Roubaud, F. (2009) ‘Education and earnings in urban West Africa’, Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 37, pp. 491‐515. Lusigi, A.(2013) 'Structural Change and Employment in a Globalizing World: Creating Jobs for All?' UNDP Presentation. UNECA (2011) 'Promoting high-level sustainable growth to reduce unemployment in Africa ECA Policy Brief No. 002, 2011'.

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