Here Is How African Governments Are Building a Skilled Africa, Block by Block

Governments in many African countries have begun to believe that Technical Education and Training is increasingly becoming crucial for their national development.

The increasing importance that African governments are now attaching to the promotion and development of vocational education and training is evident in their many poverty reduction strategy papers that the governments have developed in the recent past.

Amongst the best features of vocational skills training and education is its emphasis on the delivery of employable skills. The governments are working on developing a system that can respond to the training needs of different learners, who come from different socio-economic and academic backgrounds. The system will thus prepare the learners for gainful employment and sustainable livelihoods. This also means that the youth and poor of Africa will have easy access to the employable skills and thus, become able to support their families.

The content and delivery of vocational education in Africa differ from one country to another; the education and training is also delivered at different levels in different institutions, such as technical and vocational schools and polytechnics and enterprises. However, the core of the education remains the same in all countries: to empower the youth and poor and get Africa the place that it deserves in the global marketplace.

Many African countries – such as South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia – have set-up National Training Authorities to promote vocational skills; these authorities are often entrusted with the overall responsibility for skill development in their countries. Moreover, several NGOs and training companies are also roped in to create a robust system for churning out skilled manpower for numerous industries, which have not been able to get enough of skilled manpower in the past few decades.

Key issues that the current vocational education and training system in Africa is likely to address:

Poor perception of vocational skills in Africa

Despite so much efforts put by the African governments to promote vocational education in Africa, public as well as parents consider vocation skills and training fit for only the academically less endowed. This perception has to be changed; but, this may take many years.

Linkage of vocational education and training to the job market

The ultimate objective of vocational education in Africa and elsewhere is employment. Therefore vocational skills must be tuned to the needs of the job market.

Last, but not the least, the vocational education and training authorities also have to ensure consistent quality in the programs conducted for the youth. Quality in training programs requires sufficient supply of training materials and practice, modern equipment, relevant textbooks, and qualified instructors with experience in enterprises. And step by step, African governments are managing it all to build a skilled Africa and get the place in the global marketplace that it rightfully deserves.