Youth thriving in post-pandemic Nigeria

We saw how the world grappled past COVID-19 last year. During the first round of the Nigerian COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID-19 NLPS), 42 per cent of overall job loss could be traced directly to COVID-19, with a higher percentage of lost employment among the poorest (49 per cent) and urban (48 per cent) households, relative to the wealthiest (39 per cent) and rural households (38 per cent). The commerce, service, and agricultural sectors were hit hardest by the pandemic.

The pandemic and lockdowns also resulted in an unprecedented recession. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the world economy contracted by 3.3 per cent in 2020, and warns that the recovery expected in 2021 – with a 6.0 per cent growth rate – remains highly uncertain. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) finds that 8.8 per cent of work hours were lost in 2020, equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs. The World Bank underscores that the continuous trend toward poverty reduction observed for more than two decades was reversed – instead of decreasing by 31 million in 2020, as expected before the pandemic, the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by 93 million.

It was sad to see this year’s World Youth Skills Day take place again in a challenging context, in the midst of the pandemic, and with education and training systems yet to return to pre-crisis conditions. For youth to thrive post-pandemic, there is need to focus attention on how technical and vocational education, and training (TVET) systems can be adapted to the pandemic, participate in the recovery, and imagine priorities that Nigerian youth can adopt for the post-COVID-19 world. For example, digital platforms are enabling students to pursue online learning, virtual opportunities, businesses through e-commerce, and talents to earn income through online freelancing and micro work.

It is clear that traditional teaching and learning methods are no longer sufficient to imbue young people with the technical and problem-solving skills, the necessary understanding and resilience to cope with, and thrive in a rapidly changing system. Youths now need not just technical know-how, but cognitive ability and life skills such as interpersonal communication, financial literacy, teamwork and creativity. They need broader sets of technological/STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills and often need entrepreneurial strength. Traditional school curricula struggle to provide it all.

Designing the right education for young people is a key investment for the future and to prioritise investment in technology, broadband and digital skills, to ensure youth are not left behind. It is also important to design flexible curriculum that are future-oriented, with technology skills as a priority, where an effective teaching system enable educators to integrate pedagogical techniques for a more robust, inquiry-based and project-based learning tailored for the Future of Works because most students entering primary school today will work in jobs that do not yet exist.

As Nigerians, we need to assess how young talents have coped at work and skills during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We also need to debate on prospects for skill development and the world of work as economies recover. There is also need to reflect on how TVET stakeholders can collaborate with community-led organisations, government and technology organisations to scale up skill development and help reconcile the short-term need for economic recovery with the urgent need for accelerating the transition to sustainable development.

ILO estimates show that globally, youth employment fell 8.7 per cent in 2020, compared to 3.7 per cent for adults, with the most pronounced fall seen in middle-income countries. The consequences of this disruption to the early labour-market experiences of youth could last for years.

Governments in growing economies have advanced new schemes to provide young people with the skills they need, beyond literacy and traditional academic training. For example in 2017, China announced the Reform Plan for the Development of Industrial Workers and it focuses on five sets of educational reforms, including ideological study, skills development, internet application, innovation, and funding for workers’ personal development.

Japan’s white paper on children and young people in 2018 focuses on new skill development and entrepreneurship. Indonesia, with the highest youth unemployment in the region, at 22 per cent (in 2015), has tried to put in place more strategic initiatives building on the Indonesian Youth Employment Network, which was set up in partnership with the United Nations in 2003.

But given the variation of these skills in Nigeria, many of these efforts have been piecemeal, carried out by different non-governmental agencies and more often than not exist merely in the conceptual stage. Skills programmes are just as likely to be championed by government ministries involved with job creation and innovation as education. In Malaysia, participation in team sports is considered integral to developing 21st century skills.

Corporate and private foundations can play tremendous roles towards demonstrating innovative ways to fill the gaps. The private sector also places a high value on skill development, for pragmatic as well as virtuous reasons, to advance a pool of potential employees equipped for a variety of challenges. Both individual and corporate philanthropists are providing vocational, technical and life skills throughout Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nations. McKinsey, after issuing the 2013 report, created a non-profit social enterprise called Generation to provide young people with skills in industries such as technology and healthcare.

In fact, there are a number of different ways in which companies and private foundations are getting involved. Globally, banks have made major commitments to advancing life skills and entrepreneurial training. In 2013, JP Morgan launched New Skills at Work, a five-year, $250 million global initiative to equip adults and youths with the skills needed to get on a solid career path. In 2019, building on this success, Morgan doubled down by adding $350 million in new funding. The Macquarie Group Foundation couples funding with Macquarie employees assisting grantee organisations in enhancing organisational efficacy and delivering more programmes and services.

Local banks in Nigeria can also set aside funds for various youth empowering programmes, training and apprenticeship for the creative industries, techpreneurs, and collaborate with other initiatives to utilise their services and jobbers to offer access to market opportunities via marketplace.

In addition to life skills and critical thinking, today’s youth increasingly need digital literacy for many opportunities, prompting a rise in coding boot camps supported by corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnerships. Our society now needs young people who can learn and master the skills for a dynamic, tech savvy and globalised world. That skill set is more diverse than basic literacy, requiring new personal and professional abilities, requiring specialised opportunities for learning.

Increasingly, the private sector on its own or in collaboration with non-profit organisations is stepping up to create programmes to train today’s youth with the skills necessary for growth in the 21st century. It is time for governments to catch up and work with these efforts to maximise their adaptation and deployment.

• Amanda Obidike, a social entrepreneur and founder of STEMi, writes from Lagos

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