An evidence-based approach for integrating skills into education systems

An evidence-based approach for integrating skills into education systems

Secondary school offers the most natural and cost-effective way for youth to learn and practice the transferable, socioemotional, and entrepreneurial skills that they will need to thrive in the future, whether they seek employment or create their own businesses. Read how Educate! works with governments to improve youth skills to ensure them better life outcomes.

With an average age of 19.5, Africa is the world’s youngest continent, and by 2050, it will have the largest workforce in the world. As many as 90% of those youth will be expected to work in the informal sector.

At Educate!, we believe that secondary school offers the most natural and cost-effective way for youth to learn and practice the transferable, socioemotional, and entrepreneurial skills, such as critical thinking and financial literacy, that they will need to thrive in this reality, whether they seek employment or create their own businesses.

Educate!’s core model, delivered directly to youth in over 850 schools in Uganda, has demonstrated that skills-based experiences in secondary classrooms can measurably impact the lives of young people in the long term.

In 2019, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the model quantified this effect, revealing that 3.5 years after graduation, young people show strong and lasting improvements in areas linked to better life outcomes, including transferable skills, educational attainment, gender equity and family planning.

In response to these results, we asked: "Can we partner with governments to recreate this impact through the education system?"

Upon invitation, Educate! partners with governments to improve youth life outcomes. Together, we co-create an experiential, skills-focused model that government schools and teachers deliver to youth, generally by targeting a single academic subject.

We do this work in three stages: (1) policy reform, (2) in-service government teacher training, and (3) the integration of sustainability structures.