Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER SEVEN: CROSSCUTTING ISSUES__________________________________________________________________________932. The lack of qualified young people, and the difficulties they face in accessingopportunities that build their capacity for positive integration into the ongoingprocess (owing to the lack of technical and vocational preparation), constitutean obstacle to the vision of building an emerging Benin by 2025.933. Government efforts and findings of the APRM. It should be noted that thegovernment has made significant efforts, and that there are opportunities forthe youth to receive training in both conventional schools and in specialisedtechnical and vocational schools in many centres of the country. Vocationalschools offer the CAP 74 in the following areas:STAG;STA;SBS; andHR.934. Similarly, with regard to employment, the ANPE has been making efforts inintegrating the youth. Unfortunately, these efforts are not enough when oneconsiders the high demand in both training and employment. In addition,ongoing efforts to provide jobs fall well short of the demand (supply inrelation to demand). There are also shortcomings in terms of quality andapproach, and this impacts on the efficiency and productivity of the system asa whole.935. The APR Panel recommends that the government continue the funding ofprimary education, and that it should continue to raise public awareness on theadvantages of sending children to school – particularly in the divisions of thenorth, such as Alibori, Atacora and Borgou.936. It is also recommended that the government finance learning and technical andvocational training schools in all divisions, in order to cut down the cost oftraining programmes. Lastly, vocational and technical training schools shouldbe assessed using the same standards as the equivalent certificates. Suchmeasures will contribute to the preparation of the youth for their positiveintegration into the dynamics of the Beninese society of tomorrow.7.5 Poverty and access to resources937. Nature of the issue and current situation. One of the findings that cutsacross all the chapters of this report is that Benin is experiencing a povertysituation which seems not to be improving. Instead, real poverty is on the rise,especially with regard to financial poverty. Seen from this angle, povertyimplies lack of access or limited access to financial and material resources, or74 INFRE. July 2004. National Report on the Development of Education (47 th session of theInternational Conference on Education). Porto-Novo. Page 42-43.294