Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

0120CHAPTER 2Education for All Global Monitoring ReportYouth aged15 to 24 make upone-quarterof the world’spopulationbut almost half ofthe unemployedschool years. People lacking these foundationsare not well placed to develop the type of flexibleproblem-solving capabilities needed to underpinmore specialized learning. For countries wheremuch of the youth population either does not reachsecondary school or lacks basic literacy andnumeracy, technical and vocational education insecondary school can only have limited successas a national skills development strategy. It maymake little sense to rapidly scale up investmentin technical and vocational education in countriesenrolling only a small proportion of the secondaryschool age group. Directing resources towardsimproving access and the quality of education incore subjects is likely to prove far more effectiveand equitable (Lauglo and Maclean, 2005).Youth unemployment revealsthe skills gapThe broad aim of technical and vocationaleducation is to equip young people and adults withthe skills and knowledge they need to cross thebridge from school to work. The economic crisishas made that crossing even more hazardous.Young people who fail to make the transition oftenface the prospect of long-term unemployment andsocial marginalization, and run a higher risk ofbeing drawn into illicit activities (Adams, 2008;Brewer, 2004).While the picture varies by region, governments’records in tackling youth unemployment over thepast decade have been disappointing. With globalunemployment rising sharply in 2009, the recordcould deteriorate further as young people are hithardest by the job crisis.Pre-crisis trends were not encouragingEducation and demographic trends, coupledwith rapid economic growth before the 2008economic downturn, might have been expectedto reduce youth unemployment, with the averagenumber of years spent in school increasing andthe youth share in the working age populationdeclining in all regions, with the notable exceptionof sub-Saharan Africa.Instead, the International Labour Organization (ILO)reported a 13% rise in youth unemployment, from63 million in 1996 to 71 million in 2007. Labourmarket demand is one factor behind this trend.Economic growth has not generated employmenton the scale that might have been anticipated.At the same time, rising youth unemploymentduring a period of sustained economic expansionpoints to a mismatch between skills acquired ineducation and labour market demand. Theupshot is that young people bear the brunt ofunemployment. Before the crisis, the global youthunemployment rate stood at 12%, or around threetimes the adult unemployment rate (ILO, 2008a).In every region, youth unemployment rates arehigher than those for older workers. Youth aged 15to 24 make up one-quarter of the world’spopulation but almost half of the unemployed.Young people are now in the front line of the globaleconomic downturn. Recent estimates suggest thatworld unemployment could be 39 million higherby the end of 2009, compared with 2007, and thatyouth unemployment may rise by between 5 millionand 17.7 million. The youth unemployment rate isprojected to increase from around 12% in 2008 tobetween 14% and 15% in 2009 (CINTERFOR/ILO,2009). Employers are more prone to dismiss youngworkers – especially unskilled young women –because youth tend to have the least secureemployment conditions and are often not coveredby labour regulations (CINTERFOR/ILO, 2009).Youth unemployment patterns vary across thedeveloping regions (Figure 2.25). The ILO reportsthat the Middle East and North Africa have thehighest unemployment rates, with about one-fifthof 15- to 24-year-olds unemployed. In Egypt, youthaccount for more than 60% of the unemployed.Gender discrimination, both in terms of jobsegmentation and wages, is deeply entrenched inArab States’ labour markets (Salehi-Isfahani andDhillon, 2008). In Egypt, fewer than one-quarterof women aged 15 to 29 are economically active –one-third the male rate. The transition from schoolto work is also more difficult for girls, with fewerthan 25% of young women finding work withinfive years (Assad and Barsoum, 2007). Employerdiscrimination, early marriage and claims on thelabour of women at home all reinforce genderdisadvantage in labour markets.Demography and poverty combine to leave sub-Saharan Africa facing particularly stark challengesin youth employment. The region’s share of theworld’s youth population, currently about 17%, willbe some 25% by 2025. Almost two-thirds of thepopulation is under 25. The transition from schoolto work is enormously difficult for this growingpopulation. Every year between 7 million and10 million young Africans enter labour marketscharacterized by high unemployment, low82