Promoting Youth Employment through Information and Communication Technologies in Vocational Education in Tanzania

Africa is the most youthful continent in the world with approximately 20% of the global youth population, which is expected to increase by 42% by the end of 2030. This great number of youths, which could be used as a huge asset for the continent's economic growth and development, is largely unemployed. As a result, governments have introduced Vocational Education and Training (VET) by providing occupation-oriented training in a bid to reduce unemployment amongst youth. Despite these efforts, the majority of VET graduates remain unemployed due to the inadequate employability skills needed in the current job market. This study reports on the implementation of a project aiming at enhancing employability skills through ICT in four centres in Tanzania: Nangwa VTC, Manyara VTC, Arusha VTC, and Mto wa Mbu FDC, as well as Ketumbeine secondary school with a total of 100 students and 20 teachers. Through participating in the project, it was expected that students would gain the ICT skills as well as the 21st-Century skills required in their current workplaces. At the end of the project, an evaluation was conducted using a self-administered survey, where a total of 80 students were involved in the four centres. Moreover, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), non-participatory observation, and documentary review were adopted as qualitative data instruments. It was found that students' perceived competence and level of skills on technology knowledge of multimedia was moderate (M = 3.63), while that of CISCO was found to be high, with 76 students having graduated and obtained a CISCO certification. In terms of the 21st-Century skills, it was found that students' self-reported confidence levels in all four 21st-Century skills domains were found to be high, with collaboration skills (M = 4.5) being the highest, followed by communication skills (M = 4.26), leadership (M = 4.20) and creativity and innovation (M = 4.06). Nonetheless, the lowest 21st-Century skills element was critical thinking skills (M = 3.9). The findings from this study show that with some planned activities within colleges, students can easily acquire the needed employability skills. The implication of these findings are discussed at the end of the paper.