Livelihood Bootcamps: Bridging the Gap for Out-of-School Youth

Across some African regions, only 1 in 20 rural girls are on track to complete secondary school.

For the millions of youth unable to access formal education in East Africa, few alternative paths exist to support their transition into today’s labor market. Some may pursue technical or vocational training, but this can be prohibitively expensive, time intensive, and often requires secondary completion. As a result, many out-of-school youth remain trapped in under- and unemployment.

Recognizing this gap, Educate! has developed a new solution to equip these young people with the tools to build their livelihoods, which we are now beginning to scale. To do this well, we’ve engaged in research and development, running multiple pilots and listening to youth themselves to learn everything we can about the challenges they face.

Based on our learnings, 10+ years of experience, and a strong foundation of evidence, we’ve built a multi-week skills bootcamp hyper-tailored to the needs of some of the hardest-to-reach youth.

For example, within the bootcamp, trainers translate content into local languages, adapt lessons to accommodate lower literacy and numeracy levels, and provide services such as childcare for young mothers. Our bootcamps primarily cater to rural girls but also include boys, building a strong community of gender champions.

At the core of this work is our fundamental belief that every young person deserves access to post-primary education.

Bootcamp participant in Kenya

PhotoCredit:GeorgeMimano