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SKILL-UP Global (Upgrading Skills for the changing world of work) - Final Evaluation
- eval_number:
- 2934
- eval_url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2934
- lessons_learned:
- themes:
- theme:
- Skills development
- category:
- Employment
- comments:
- he direct beneficiaries were the women who participated in the WIL. However, the intervention
also benefitted those individuals who were subsequently employed in the farms. Further, the
intervention also developed the capacity of the TVET Colleges and the farmers to support Workintegrated
learning.
- challenges:
- COVID-19 has created a formidable challenge to the intervention. It has influenced the extent to
which the young women have been able to sustain their employment and highlights the need
for effective support to be put in place to enable these young women to scale up their farming
and generate a sustainable income.
Interviewees also suggested that the intervention could have been extended further (it was
already extended by a month so that the young women had longer to internalise their learning
and establish themselves). This has implications for the effort that is required by the mentors
and ways to compensate them for their time needs to be explored.
- success:
- Evidence suggests that when employers engage in a meaningful manner, the TVET provision is
improved. Mourshed et al. (2012) found that, in a survey of youth, education providers and
employers in 9 countries, companies with regular contact with education providers and young
people and willing to offer time, skills and money, are successful in obtaining the talent and
skills they need to grow (Partnership for Young London, 2015). This finding - that in order to be
effective, skills development strategies must at the very least take account of, but preferably
involve, the private sector, is now generally recognised (Dunbar M, 2013). This evidence
reinforces the importance of the relationships that have been developed in this intervention as
well as the inclusion of theory and practice in an integrated manner.
- context:
- The WiL intervention of Malawi’s SKILL-UP programme component focused on the agricultural
sector, and involved the development of a TVET curriculum at level 2 and 3 of the TVET system
(Progress Report). The intervention is divided between theory (25%) and practical experience
on farms (75%), with farmers acting as mentors to trainees. The combination of theory and
practice in the training process reportedly provided the trainees with an advantage over other
graduates and the intervention has been particularly successful in supporting young women to
become farmers. The trainee cohort for 2020 was gender balanced, but more female
participants have remained in the horticulture sector than male participants (Stakeholder
interview, 2021).
“The intervention has largely impacted the girls. They are very industrious, start small farms, and
in no time at all start employing farmers who turn out to be most young boys. And the young boys
are eager to work for the female. Considering the power dynamics in Malawi this is a shift.”
(Stakeholder interview, 2021).
- description:
- For work-based learning schemes to be successful, they need to be adapted to the specific
context in which the schemes are implemented, including the structure of the economy or the
market challenges that firms face in these contexts.
The learning from the Work-integrated Learning (WiL) example highlighted the importance of
partners being effectively involved in the process as a condition for the success of the
intervention. This included the ability of the farmers to play a leadership role in the farms in
which trainees are placed.
The review also found that central to the success of this intervention was the extent to which
the ILO worked with the TVET institutions and the farmers to build the requisite capacity to
implement the programmes. Interviewees commented that the ILO played a facilitating role and
was willing to walk the journey with these institutions.
- administrative_issues:
- There were a few issues that were raised relevant here including: The need for the intervention
to be long enough to both develop the skills of the beneficiaries and support them as they move
into their next phase. The budget should allow for the training as well as the start-up costs and
other ad-hoc costs that emerge as central to the success of the intervention.
- url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/239863
- location:
- country:
- Inter-Regional
- region:
- Inter-Regional
- eval_title:
- SKILL-UP Global (Upgrading Skills for the changing world of work) - Final Evaluation
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