Tanzania is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
In fact, a 2017 report by the World Economic Forum showed that several African countries, including Ethiopia and Djibouti are experiencing accelerated growth, and this trend is predicted to continue across emerging markets in Africa and Asia. So, what does this mean for the youth of these African nations?
At first glance, this is great news. Rapid economic growth implies an increase in industries and ultimately more job opportunities. However, are kids in Africa being adequately prepared to take advantage of this?
The data would suggest that they’re not.
Our youth are not adequately prepared for the jobs of today
The National Skills Development study conducted by the Tanzanian government found that in order for Tanzania to be on track to become a middle income country by 2030, we need to increase the number of youth going into these key sectors:
- 23x in Health, Welfare and Medical Science (that’s not 23%. That’s 23 times!)
- 6x in Engineering, Science and Manufacturing
- 4x in ICT
Moreover, somewhere between 3-5% of students in Tanzania end up going to University. And according to the Inter University council of East Africa, 60% of them leave university without “basic work related capabilities.” And 41% of firms in Tanzania say that an inadequately skilled workforce is a major constraint to their business.
We used our platform Ubongo Kids to research employability
Our TV show Ubongo Kids is watched by millions of children across Tanzania. So we decided to ask them questions (via SMS) about the jobs they’re interested in, to see how their interests line up with what the government says it needs. The average age of respondents was between 14 and 15, so they’re secondary students who are soon to pick the subjects which will lock out certain career paths.
For 6 months, Ubongo collected data from it’s Ubongo Kids viewers on a number of topics related to their career aspirations, employability skills, and future hopes and dreams.
The good news is a lot of the children want to be doctors, which the government needs. But only 4% of kids want to pursue careers in science, technology or engineering related professions.
Furthermore, all of the most in-demand industries require training in STEM subjects (science, technology, math or engineering)— but kids are getting discouraged from pursuing those subjects, especially girls. The 2013 NECTA results showed only 1 in 4 girls are doing STEM subjects in Form 5 and 6. While there has been great progress in getting more girls to enrol in school, and currently, there are more girls graduating from secondary school then boys, females are still discouraged from pursuing science and math subjects, and pushed towards pursuing the social sciences and arts.
So, our research found that the skills gap is wide and may even be WIDENING for the jobs of today.
How about the jobs of the future?
The World Economic Forum says that 65% of kids entering school today may ultimately end up in jobs that don’t yet exist. As a result, there are certain skills that people will need to have to rapidly adapt and thrive in an uncertain world. These include:
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Creativity
- People Skills
- Emotional Intelligence
We conducted another survey to learn what were the most important skills kids thought they needed to get their dream jobs.
- 37% said academic skills
- 37% said creativity
- 16% said discipline
- 7% said problem solving
- 3% said critical thinking
So there is clearly a disconnect between what kids value, and what is needed both currently and in the future. At Ubongo, we aim to help close this gap through the content of our shows. In our pre-school show, Akili and Me, we start developing children’s social emotional skills and creativity. We advocate for learning through play, as this teaches kids to be innovative and problem solvers.
In our primary school show, Ubongo Kids, we’ve partnered with several organisations to create episodes focused on instilling grit, purpose, curiosity and creativity in our viewers. Our characters think critically about how to resolve the challenges they face in their lives.
With this information at hand, we are looking for further partnerships to create even more Ubongo Kids episodes that help kids develop the skills they need for success in school and life.
