The Challenge of Youth Unemployment in the Caribbean: the Role of Youth Employment Training Programmes

Dennis A. Pantin
ILO Caribbean Office
October, 1996

 

Table of Contents

VOLUME 1 The Challenge of Youth Unemployment in the Caribbean: The Role of Youth Employment Training Programmes - An Overview

I. Youth in the Labour Force in the Caribbean

II. Social Conditions of Youth

The Factor of Age The Factor of Wealth/Income/Social Class The Factor of Educational Status The Factor of Gender The Factor of Race The Factor of Disability Urban/Rural Location Family Conditions

III. Youth Most at Risk in Terms of Labour Market Access

• Youth, Crime and Violence
• Causes of Youth Unemployment and Underemployment
• Remedial Measures and Corrective Strategies

IV. Youth Employment Training Programmes in the Caribbean

• A Comparison of Main Characteristics of Caribbean YETPs
  1. Dominance of the public sector
  2. Employment training and political/social amelioration
  3. Impact of the political process on YETPs
  4. A dependence on informal training needs surveys for youth employment training
  5. Limited evaluation procedures and practice
  6. Focus on micro-entrepreneurial training
  7. Significance of attitudinal change
  8. Fixed training versus continuous training

V. Evaluation of Youth Employment Training Programmes in the Caribbean

• Is the Supply of YETPs Training Adequate in Relation to the Demand?
• Is Existing Supply of Training in YETPs Appropriate to the Demands of the Market Place?
  (a) Post-Graduate Employment Impact
  (b) Post-Graduate Income Impact
  (c) Views of Graduates of YETPs
  (d) Views of Employers

VI. Policy and Programming Recommendations to Promote Employment for Youth in the Sub-Region

1. Social Conditions Facing Caribbean Youth

1(a) Stereotyping of youth on the basis of age, race and place of residence
Proposal
1(b) Police Harassment
Proposal
1(c) Dysfunctional Family Backgrounds
Proposal
1(d) Life does not begin at 16

(i) Wastage of Resources at the Primary and Secondary Level
(ii) The Peculiar Problem of "Unattached" 13-15/16 Year Old Youth
Proposal

2. Pre-Training YETP Policy Parameters

2(a) Inadequate data for evaluation of existing programmes
Proposal
2(b) Political Factors
Proposal
2(c) Determination of the type of training to be provided and the length of training
Proposal
2(d) Under-representation of certain categories of youth in training
2(e) The peculiar problem of business/micro-enterprise training
Proposal

3. YETP-Specific Constraints

3(a) The attitudinal mid-set of intakes into YETPs
Proposal
3(b) Lack of Equipment
Proposal
3(c) Availability of training space and the timing of classes
3(d) Stigma of YETPs
Proposal
3(e) The relative importance of "on the job" training

4. Post-YETP Participation/Graduation Experience

4(a) Frustration at the inability to obtain a job or successful self-employment
4(b) Perceptions of exploitation by employers
Proposal
4(c) The problem of dropouts who wish to complete thier training
Proposal
4(d) Provision of credit and assistance in management of own business
Proposal

VII. Proposals for Critical Policy Interventions

• Quality Control Monitoring of the Overall Education System
• Reconstructing Tracer Studies from Archival Data
• Review of Methods of Determining areas of Training and the Content of Training
• De-emphasis of Certification and Modularization of Programmes
• Equity of Access to Training
• Attitudinal Training
• Profile of Successful Graduates of YETPs
• Indexation of Compensation

http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/infsources/youth_employment/youthcont.html

 

 

 

 

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