SkYE Programme - Mainstreaming Inclusion in skills development for more inclusive economic growth

SkYE Talk: Issues Unpacked Mainstreaming inclusion in skills development for more inclusive economic growth Issue 05

The Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) programme in the Eastern Caribbean was established to contribute to more inclusive economic growth in the region by ensuring access to certified, market-relevant training for young people from disadvantaged communities, and with disabilities. In an era when decisions to invest in skills are driven primarily by economic rationales, the achievements of the SkYE programme demonstrate how technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can also be ‘a means to improve social inclusion, to make labour markets more equitable and to assist recovery from disasters …’ 1. Key lessons discussed in this paper include: • Mainstreaming inclusion within high quality, certified technical and vocational training contributes to improved employment outcomes for young people with disabilities.

• Targeted financing that supports social inclusion, and includes funding for specific access and retention strategies, delivers more effective mainstreaming.

• Access and retention strategies need to be flexibly applied to address individual learners’ needs.

• Instructors are central to mainstreaming inclusion, through their adaption of teaching and learning practices to accommodate individual needs, building organisational culture, building trainees confidence and resilience, and creation of partnerships with disability organisations and employers. Continuing professional development and career paths for inclusive educators/education remain essential to an inclusive system.

• Effectiveness of inclusion strategies can be monitored at course, training provider, and system levels through simple monitoring tools used during enrolment, and within tracer studies.

• Partnerships with national disability organisations offer powerful opportunities to raise awareness, improve inclusive practices within training and employment, and change perceptions of the possibilities and options available to young people with disabilities.

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Skills for Prosperity (2023) Investing in TVET and Skills Development, page 7.

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Background From the outset, the SkYE programme was intentionally designed to mainstream inclusion in TVET to promote the access of socially excluded young people to employment opportunities. Young people with disabilities face significant challenges in developing skills, getting work experience, and participating fully in the Eastern Caribbean labour market. Stigma and discrimination due to disability remain among the causes of youth unemployment in the Caribbean. Youth from poor or disadvantaged households are more likely to lack skills due to early school drop-out for economic reasons and inability to afford training outside of the school system.

Women earn less than men, are disproportionately over-represented in the low-skilled, informal sectors of the economy, and are more likely to be unemployed than men. Meanwhile young, unemployed men are more likely to become involved in crime and other anti-social activity. There is also significant gender stereotyping and segregation in subject choice in education and within the TVET sector. In response to these challenges, the SkYE programme funded market-relevant, certificated training for young men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds, and with disabilities, in four countries - Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mainstreaming inclusion through targeted financing for certified training SkYE mainstreamed inclusion by targeting funding to specific groups of young people, towards training providers with sufficient institutional capacity, and towards skills and qualifications in demand from employers. This strategic approach was driven through the SkYE Training Fund.

The SkYE Training Fund was established to award grants to deliver training that met the strategic goals of inclusive TVET, through two ‘Windows’. Window 1 funded technical training in skills that are in demand from economic sectors with high potential for job growth. Window 2 funded broader programmes of study that included foundational literacy and maths, employability skills and basic vocational training, in skills for sectors with high potential for job growth. All grants awarded by both windows included performance targets for the enrolment and certification of

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young people with disabilities, and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Based on the educational experience and needs of many young people with disabilities, grants awarded to deliver the broader and foundational training programmes under Window 2 had to meet higher targets for inclusion of young people with disabilities than grants under Window 1. Certified graduates of broader education and training programmes were also eligible to apply for additional training through courses funded under Window 1. In addition, all grants had to reach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and all had to achieve a minimum of 35% male or 35% female.

Prior to the award of any grants, the Fund Manager carried out detailed labour market analysis in each of the four countries, working with employers to identify economic sectors and sub-sectors with growth potential, and skills in short supply.

The Fund then invited applications to deliver training in these areas of skill, only.

The Fund Manager also identified training providers eligible to apply for funding for the broader courses delivered through Window 2 by first mapping institutions with potential, and then completing an institutional assessment to confirm, capacity to deliver more inclusive TVET at scale. Only providers with sufficient institutional capacity to deliver foundational education, employability skills and vocational training to more inclusive cohorts were invited to apply for funding under Window 2.

Contract targets for inclusion were directly informed by the specific findings of the institution’s capacity assessment.

Finally, all training funded by SkYE had to lead to a recognised certificate – this could be Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), a formal, nationally recognised certificate, or an internationally recognised certificate. Setting this condition for funding leveraged quality assurance within the broader skills eco-system.

It also ensured funding was directed to qualifications preferred by employers, to help improve graduates’ chances of employment.

Thus, the strategic priorities of the SkYE Training Fund ensured that young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged homes were mainstreamed within TVET courses that were market relevant, of high quality, led to certification, and were delivered by institutions with sufficient capacity.

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Investment in strategies for access, retention, and achievement Grants awarded by the SkYE Training Fund included funding for targeted strategies that foster inclusion by addressing specific needs or barriers that prevent access, retention, and achievement in training. Inclusion strategies varied depending on training provider (e.g. location, transport connections, existing facilities), training course (specific skills demanded), as well as the specific needs associated with gender, types of disability, and socio-economic background. Strategies were agreed during the grant project co-creation phase, based on training providers’ experiences in a specific context, and wider evidence of good practice. Strategies could be combined within grants, in flexible ways to address needs in a specific context, and included:

• Outreach activities to support targeted enrolment • Transport to training and to work experience • Sustenance (for training of more than five hours duration) • Stipends to cover costs of attending training • Specialist assistant instructors (e.g. sign interpreters) • Day care for young children • Adapted equipment for students with disabilities

Grant budgets indicated that these inclusion strategies are delivered at low cost and make up a tiny proportion of unit costs of training, thus offering good value for money given their role in securing equitable outcomes.

In addition to grant investments to fund training for young people, the SkYE programme also invested in training instructors to deliver more inclusive TVET. Through a partnership with Bishop Grosseteste University (UK), a group of 50 instructors from training providers delivering training funded by SkYE, achieved a BTEC Level 3 Unit qualification in Understanding and Using Inclusive Approaches to Teaching and Learning. The professional development programme introduced instructors to different learning styles and developmental needs, effective teaching and learning strategies and supported improved practice through coaching.

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Monitoring inclusion With targets for inclusion set as a condition of funding, monitoring inclusion was important to SkYE. The institutional capacity assessments indicated that providers were not monitoring inclusion of students (at enrolment, completion or certification) in terms of their disability status or disadvantage. Consequently, the Training Fund introduced simple data collection tools and reporting requirements for grant partners. This included training on tools to be used during student enrolment based on the Washington Group set of standardised questions on disability, and another short set of questions to determine socio-economic background. Prior to the award of grants, the applicants (training provider staff) attended a short training course in the use of the monitoring tools.

All grant partners submitted the simple ‘Data Capture Form’ with mandatory information about every trainee enrolled on every course funded by SkYE. Training providers also had to provide evidence of certification and were required to implement graduate tracer surveys using a specific format supplied by SkYE. All data were combined into databases managed by the Training Fund.

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Supporting trainees throughout training and work experience In addition to the specific access and retention strategies included within grant budgets, training providers considered how to be more inclusive within their usual routines.

In all four nations implementing the SkYE programme, the national disability organisation became a valued partner in the delivery of grant projects. Training providers partnered with disability organisations to develop effective outreach and enrolment strategies, to access networks for specialist instructors, and to seek advice. On occasion, national disability organisations provided links to employers, and opportunities for graduates after training.

Guidance as part of mobilisation and We have had more conversations enrolment helps match young people about disability than we had interested in training to courses that will before… support their career goals, interest, and talents. Young people with disabilities National Training Agency official were supported during enrolment to identify courses that met their ambitions and interests and would lead to accessible occupations in the future. As instructors set up work experience and internship opportunities for all their students, discussions with employers hosting SkYE trainees included considering opportunities for trainees with disabilities, and specific accommodations, where required.

Training providers offered psycho-emotional support to all SkYE trainees, using various approaches, for example within the culture of learning established in classrooms, through modules and courses that tackled specific topics, and through access to specialist support services. Instructors commented that SkYE traineesmany of whom were from disadvantaged communities – needed additional time and intensity of personal support to cope with training. Successful graduates frequently spoke of the role that instructors and peers had played in building their confidence as well as competence.

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Delivering inclusive outcomes With support from SkYE, training providers delivered training to over 6000 young people across four countries, most of whom were from disadvantaged backgrounds, and included young people with disabilities2. Overall, the Training Fund delivered a certification rate3 of 83%. As the diagram below shows, young people with disabilities experienced slightly lower certification rates than their peers, and we believe this may reflect the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on young people with disabilities.

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% of trainees enrolled

% of certificated graduates

Female

64%

64%

Disabled

25%

20%

Disadvantaged

71%

71%

Results presented in this section are based on matched and disaggregated datasets prepared by the Fund Manager.

Certification compared to enrolment database.

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Certificated graduates shared similar employment outcomes after training funded by SKYE, whatever their disability or socio-economic status. Employment outcomes were distributed equitably.

54% graduates employed

55% of women employed

55%

of people with disability employed

52%

of people from a disadvantaged background employed

The benefits of certificated training may be greater for young people that traditionally experience higher levels of exclusion from training and work. For example, amongst young people that were unemployed prior to SkYE training, young people with disabilities were slightly more successful in finding work after training.

Overall, 45% of trainees reporting as not previously in employment prior to SkYE training, found employment after training – compared to more than half (51%) of people with disabilities who were not in employment prior to SkYE training, and found employment afterwards. Also, on average, graduates that reported being in the lowest income bracket prior to SkYE training, experienced the highest increase in incomes following SkYE, compared to graduates starting in other income brackets. On average, these graduates experienced an increase of over 600% following training and certification funded by SkYE.

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Reflections The SkYE programme has demonstrated how funding can be strategically targeted to mainstream inclusion of young people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth, within high quality technical and vocational education and training. However, the strategy should not be seen as simply setting targets for inclusion. The Training Fund drove inclusion within a holistic investment strategy for market relevant, inclusive skills development, and targeting: • sectors with potential for growth, and skills that are in demand • qualifications recognised by employers • institutions that have sufficient capacity • programmes that address specific educational needs and broader employability skills, as well as vocational skills • pathways to higher levels of skill • retention strategies that address specific barriers faced by young people • instructors’ skills to manage learning within diverse classrooms Nor is mainstreaming inclusion about ‘adding in’ diverse young people into standard provision. The SkYE Training Fund enabled training providers to flexibly use differentiated access and retention strategies, designed and implemented in response to trainees’ individual needs.

Instructors play a central role in making every stage of training more inclusive, from outreach and enrolment, to planning and delivering inclusive teaching and learning approaches, enabling relevant work experience and maintaining psycho-emotional support. Although SkYE’s investment in certificated instructor training will be sustained by the instructors with future cohorts of trainees, continuing professional development, including career paths specialising in inclusive education and training (for example, as institutional leads, specialist assessors and teacher trainers) will remain vital for an inclusive system.

Finally, partnerships with disability organisations offer powerful opportunities for training providers and employers to develop appropriate, effective strategies to remove barriers for young people with disabilities, and in the process changing how we each understand disability, creating greater awareness of the possibilities for inclusive pathways for all youth.

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The Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) Programme in the Caribbean is a 5-year programme funded by UK aid which aims to develop a more productive, better trained and inclusive workforce across four countries- St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica and Grenada. The objective of the programme is to develop relevant market skills among young people (aged 15-30) in the Eastern Caribbean to promote greater youth employment, greater productivity and greater inclusiveness in the labour market, including better training and employment access for disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities. The programme aims to improve the quality, reach and sustainability of technical and vocational education and training in the four focus countries.