Innovative Secondary Education For Skills Enhancement

f. The focus should be on providing students with
relevant skills for employability, not solely skills
for employment. Entrepreneurial skills are also
becoming increasingly important as the informal
economy continues to represent a large part of the
workforce.
Strengthening pedagogy is
crucial for skill acquisition.
a. Teachers’ inability to think of teaching as enabling
learning rather than as imparting factual knowledge
and also to understand the skills that students
should have is one of the major obstacles to
improving secondary skill acquisition, especially for
non-cognitive skills.
Although policy reforms in many developing countries
now emphasize skills development, questions remain on
the most important skills that result in employability, and
how they lead to increased earnings (USAID 2012). Our
study helps shed further light on this issue: we see that
ensuring that youth are equipped with skills for employability
will mean closer linkages between employers, educators,
and policymakers, shifts in pedagogy, and a greater
focus on nurturing non-cognitive skills such as communication,
leadership, and entrepreneurialism. Where technical
skills are necessary for employment, a close connection
between educational institutions and employers is vital.
Ultimately, employers seek graduates who can thrive in
the workforce, and an effective skills program will prepare
youth for this transition.
b. Assessment methods should be modified to assess
a wider range of skills; this shift may also then
encourage a change in teaching methods.
c. Extracurricular activities can be very important for
acquiring non-cognitive skills, yet these activities
are relatively downplayed by teachers, especially in
Africa.
d. Especially in Africa and South Asia, vocational
education is insufficiently practical.
24 Innovative Secondary Education For Skills Enhancement (ISESE)