Youth, Employment and Skills for Africa’s Transformation

The PACT YES chapter will seek to address issues of the quality of Africa’s basic, secondary, and technical and vocational education, as well as the skills mismatch that threatens to undermine Africa’s looming labor boom. This proposed approach will ensure that a wide range of stakeholder voices are heard in the policy arena, including direct interaction between youth and gender organizations with policy makers. By close of March 2019, work on the inception report had been completed with plans underway for the inception meeting. Other project activities undertaken during the first quarter of the year includes a visit to Abidjan and Ethiopia in mid-March. The visit to Abidjan was engineered by the quest to introduce the project to the Ivorian Ministry of Education and to identify a potential local partner for collaboration. The visit resulted in the identification of three local research institutions for consideration and selection. The second travel was also to dialogue with the Policy Studies Institute (formerly EDRI) in Ethiopia to discuss possible collaboration. There have also been some internal communications on potential partnerships with research institutions based in Niger, Rwanda and Uganda. The implementation of the YES Chapter began January 2019. The key deliverables include (a) Inception meeting, (b) 6 country level case studies, (c) Country Validation Workshops, (d) Synthesis report, (e) multi country policy learning event/PACT launch, (f) Further engagement through PACT YES Chapter. During the second quarter, the YES team finalized the analytical framework for the study, drafted the inception report and identify partners in the six countries in the study. The team also drafter a two-year budget for the study and collaborated with the communication team to identify the study’s communication needs. Planning for the inception meeting to be held on the 2-3 October started in q3. This involved inviting research partners and government representatives to the meeting. Using the research partners to identify the government representatives has been helpful as they are well versed in their own country contexts. Beyond the logistics of the workshop planning, we also refined the methodological frameworks and started to draft the research questions. The 6 study countries submitted country inception reports which provided a literature review and background information on the key themes of the project. It also allowed for an assessment on key similarities and differences across the 6 countries. The key findings from the reports were presented at the inception meeting in October. An inception meeting was held on the 2nd-3rd October 2019. The inception meeting discussed the methodology and scope in detailed, and the key findings from the country inception reports were presented. . Present were the national research partners and 2-3 government representatives from each study country. The outcomes of the meeting included narrowing down the research questions, identifying key stakeholders and finalizing the methodology. By close of November, the data collection tools for the interviews and focus group discussions had been developed in anticipation of the data collection due to commence in January 2020. Contracts have been signed by research partners, following which planning for the national level inception meetings due in January started. In January 2020, the research teams in Rwanda and Cote D’Ivoire held the country level inception meetings with key stakeholders to ensure they were abreast the study and their views and suggestions had been incorporated into the study. By early February, all 6 research countries had begun the data collection. Two of our staff - Yohannis Mulu Tessema and Rianna Owusu - joined the researchers in Ethiopia and Rwanda respectively for the in-country data collection. The visit proved a useful exercise for strengthening ACET’s knowledge of the different country contexts. aa By the end of March, all research teams had or were about to complete the data collection. The interviewees comprised of students, teachers & school administrators, school leavers, policymakers and representatives of the private sector amongst others. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, although the bulk of interviews has been completed, about 10% have not taken place. Researchers are exploring the opportunity of having these interviews over the phone or via skype. The country researchers are now analyzing their data and writing their country reports. Going forward, by the end of Q2, all 6 country reports should be written and validated and the 1st draft of the synthesis report will be in progress. Four of the six country reports were received and reviewed in Q2 (with the remaining two received in July). A validation meeting has been planned for August this year. All country reports and the first draft of the synthesis report are expected to be completed, validated, and submitted for external review by the end of Q3. In Q3, we received and reviewed the first-draft reports for each country (Ethiopia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Rwanda, and Uganda), and will be incorporating revisions for finalization next quarter. Production of the first draft synthesis report has begun. In Q4 2020, All countries except for Ghana held their virtual validation workshops this period. Final country reports, with comments from the workshops have been received from 3 countries (Niger, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire). These drafts are under internal review, and will proceed for translation, editing and production in February 2021. • Cote D’Ivoire – completed validation meeting, incorporated edits and sent final draft (French) • Ethiopia - completed validation meeting, incorporated edits and sent final draft • Ghana – ACET found the 3rd draft unsatisfactory and are working with the researcher to revise draft once complete a validation workshop will be scheduled to review • Niger – completed validation meeting Nov 6, 2020, incorporated edits and sent final draft • Rwanda – completed its validation meeting on Dec 11, 2020, IPAR incorporating edits • Uganda – completed its validation meeting Dec 9, incorporating edits Synthesis Report – ACET began development of Chapters 1- 4 in December and is expected to complete this in February 2021. Q1 2021 Country reports: Final country reports, with comments from the validation workshops have been received from all countries except Ghana. Rwanda and Uganda presented their report this review period while Niger, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire submitted theirs the previous quarter. These drafts are under internal review, and will proceed for translation, editing and production. • Cote D’Ivoire and Niger – Completed internal reviews and translated reports from French to English. Editing and production will commence in Q2 2021. • Ethiopia – Completed internal review of report after inputs from workshop was incorporated. • Rwanda and Uganda – Updated draft report with inputs from workshop and commenced with internal review of the reports. • Ghana – ACET found the 3rd draft unsatisfactory and are working with the researcher to revise draft 3. ACET is re-engaging stakeholders to address a number of gaps identified during the revision of the report. Synthesis Report: The draft synthesis report has been completed and sent out to country research partners for their final inputs. The report will be finalized after feedback from the policy learning event has been integrated. Policy learning event: Preparations are underway for a policy learning event in the next quarter. This includes selection of participants, developing an agenda, sending out invitations and finalizing country reports. Country partners participated in two planning meetings to agree the agenda and have developed lists of key stakeholders to invite. Q2 2021 Synthesis Report: Feedback on the 2nd draft of the synthesis report was received from country research partners in Q2. The report was reviewed in April and served as a background document for a policy learning event held in May 2021. The peer review was undertaken by Prof. Takiwah Manuh, former Director of the Social Development Policy Division-United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Birger Frederiksen, Senior fellow, and former World Bank Education Specialist for Developing Countries. The report has further been revised and finalized after comments from the policy learning event was integrated. Policy learning event: On 19-20 May 2021, ACET organized a virtual policy learning conference. The objective of the event was to examine how current education and training programs were adapting to the needs of the fast-growing technology-oriented world of work. A key takeaway from the conference was the need for all six countries to modify their education and training programs Q3 2021 The YES Policy Learning Event Report: ACET completed the dissemination of the YES Policy Learning Event Report this quarter. The 5-pager report summarizes findings from the Policy Learning event and highlights key actions for engagement and next steps. The report was translated into French and shared with the study partner institutions for wider dissemination amongst their networks. Synthesis Report: The synthesis report has been finalized. It will be edited and designed for publication by close of year. This report is a collection of similar themes from the supply and demand side findings in the individual country reports. It provides an opportunity to illuminate, draw and share learnings across countries and develop policy recommendations that promotes existing policy gaps. Country Reports: Abridged versions of the country reports have been finalized and will be published on the ACET website. To make reading easier for our audience, ACET’s editorial team produced a more concise version of each of the six country reports that focusses on key findings and relevant issues. YES-PACT Chapter: Preparations have been initiated to launch the YES PACT chapter. The PACT platform brings together relevant high-level stakeholders to continuously engage on evidence for policy action and implementation emerging from research findings. Work has begun compiling background material that feeds into the YES PACT chapter. A matrix, mapping out the policy and implementation gaps and recommendations has been produced based on findings from the 6-country reports. This matrix will: • inform study countries on policy actions required • provide technical advisory for policymakers, and • inform countries on existing entry points for advocacy for policy reform and uptake. An external key stakeholder mapping was also conducted for the 6 countries to begin identifying key stakeholders and existing advocacy initiatives in youth, employment, and skills.