Innovative Secondary Education For Skills Enhancement

Introduction
Background
In most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the
four-decade rapid growth in youth population is ending
and a period of stability is starting. This has important
implications for the economic and education futures of
all countries, and provides LMICs with an opportunity to
deliver secondary education to most of their population.
The exception is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the number
of young people is projected to continue to rise to 391
million by 2050 and could reach more than 500 million by
2100 (Mason 2012). This poses a huge challenge to African
countries—to educate and provide decent work opportunities
for this growing youth population. But it also offers a
significant opportunity—as it will be the only major region
in the world with a growing and youthful workforce.
One of the keys to unlocking this opportunity, and to
ensuring that all LMICs are able to harness the potential of
the youth workforce, will be providing good-quality education
and training for young people so that they acquire
the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the local,
regional, and global economies. Because most workers enter
the workforce straight from secondary-level education,
it is that level that should be strengthened to ensure that
students are receiving the best possible tools for success.
While most developing countries have succeeded in establishing
compulsory basic education laws, the acquisition
of some level of upper secondary schooling is increasingly
regarded as the distinguishing factor for young people
seeking jobs in the formal economy in either the private
or the public sector. Indeed, a review of the literature on
the economic benefits of education as a whole shows a
clear correlation between increased levels of educational
achievement, higher individual earnings, and stronger
economic growth (Guison-Dowdy 2012). A paper commissioned
for this study found that higher levels of skills
and knowledge have also brought benefits to individuals
working in the informal economy (Pina and Kotin 2012).
The higher-level thinking skills and communication
competencies that are developed in secondary schools and
beyond appear to bring higher returns than basic literacy
and numeracy skills instilled in primary schools (Guison-
Dowdy 2012).
This increased demand for post-basic education has led
to a significant increase in the number of young people
enrolled in secondary school education in all regions of
the world. Globally, more than 500 million youth were
enrolled in secondary schools in 2009 compared with
196 million in 1970. However, while gross enrollment
rates have risen significantly, the quality and relevance of
secondary education curricula and delivery are not keeping
pace with demand, in particular with regard to the
ability to prepare youth for demands of the workforce.
In particular, the complementary ISESE synthesis paper
on skills for employability (hereafter referred to as “skills
synthesis”) illustrates that non-cognitive or “life” skills
are significantly lacking in current traditional secondary
school curricula.
There is extensive research evidence to confirm the value
of secondary education both to the individual and to
society in terms of economic benefits and improved health
outcomes (especially for young women), as well as helping
to establish more stable and open societies. There is
also evidence to show that at the household level, parents
are willing to make sacrifices to secure the benefits that
secondary education provides for their children.
However, while many LMICs have raised secondary
education as a priority, the explicit link between secondary
education and skills for employment is still absent in
many national education systems. The lack of preparation
for employment at this level is a problem given that most
youth entering the workforce will not obtain any education
beyond the secondary level.
The biggest challenge for most countries is the lack of
financial and human resources—especially trained and
qualified teachers—to respond to the growing demand for
secondary education and effective skills training. It will
not be possible to provide a good-quality education for
the majority of young people in developing countries if
they continue to rely on traditional models of secondary
schooling and skills training. Unit costs are high; trained
and qualified teachers are scarce; and resources are wasted
in inefficient schools with small class sizes and out-of-date
education materials.
There is an urgent need to find innovative models to
deliver high-quality secondary education to students to
ensure that young people are given the skills and knowledge
they need to thrive in the local, regional, and global
economies. This paper identifies some of these successful
models, and begins to consider how they might be scaled
up or replicated across different contexts.
36 Innovative Secondary Education For Skills Enhancement (ISESE)