The adequate provision of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is considered a key element in improving the prospects of young people in the areas of decent work and entrepreneurship. ECOPER consultants have collaborated with Ockham IPS in the evaluation of the joint UNESCO-Republic of Korea project ‘Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) II’, which had TVET provision as its primary focus. The ECOPER team conducted field missions in two of the five project countries, Tanzania and Madagascar, and submitted their final reports this month.
BEAR II was implemented in five Eastern African countries, also including Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, between 2017 and 2021. It follows on from the first BEAR project implemented between 2011 and 2016 in five Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. It aimed to increase the chances of young people finding jobs and generating self-employment through increasing the relevance of TVET to the needs of the labour market, improving the quality of TVET programmes and institutions and increasing the attractiveness of TVET to young people and society.