Project Manager: Awejan Emmanuel
Project Coordinator: Ngonge Meiva
Project Sponsor: GoGreen Technologies(GG TECH)
Resource Manager: Mapong Louise
Project Duration: 3 months
Project Location: Buea, Cameroon
Youth Career Pathway Initiative Project SUMMARY
Many young people face uncertainty about their career paths and this starts from the fields they choose at secondary and high school. A significant number of teenagers lack access to information about what is needed in the job market like: job opportunities, skills required, and pathways to success. The Youth Career Pathway is a project that aims to empower secondary school students by providing them with essential knowledge and resources to make informed career choices. This initiative will focus on educating youths on the diverse job opportunities available today, fostering skills that are vital for career readiness, and encouraging leadership among teenagers. Through orientations and discussions, we will create a supportive environment where youths can explore their interest and aspirations, assisting them choose paths at the secondary and high school level.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The problem of youth unemployment is widely discussed around the world nowadays. The current global average for youth unemployment rate is 15.6% and millions of young people are attaching the labour force annually but inappropriately. According to the World bank in 2022, Africa is severely affected because 12 million of its youth join the labour force every year but only 3 million of them are lucky to get formal employment. While Cameroon has a relatively low figure of 3.8% of the youth unemployment rate, 75% of young people are employed in the informal sector. The lack of knowledge on the type of jobs that are available so these youths can align their studies towards and the advice from parents and guardians on outdated forms of success deprives these youths on opportunities to select vocations that would help fill existing market gaps, thus forcing many of them into careers that they would not have chosen if properly oriented.
The Youth Career Pathway Initiative aims to bridge this gap by Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders by offering a holistic approach to career counselling to secondary and high school students. Sessions on current jobs available and the nature of the jobs available in the market will be made. Also, sessions will be organized where important competencies of decision making, goal setting and self-development will be addressed. The initiative will involve not only students, but parents too, with focus being put on the management of introducing them to resources that can guide the young people in the decision-making process concerning their careers.
Some goals of the project are to reach out to about one thousand (1000) students in Buea by the end of Year 1 and 5000 more over the next 5 years. Its objective is that at least 50% of these learner’s transition to the next level of learning or take up relevant employment in the labour market possibly in STEM disciplines. Therefore, through achieving its objective to correct youth career mis-match this strategy will equally help address underemployment and thereby foster economic development in the area.
BENEFICIARIES AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND INSIGHTS
The main beneficiaries are of the Youth Career Pathway Initiative project are secondary and high school students.
- Age range: 15 to 21 years
- Gender: Male and female
- Educational background: participants are mainly secondary and high school students.
- Cultural diversity: The projects is intended for the Buea community, Buea is home to various ethnic groups, hence, the need for career orientation programs for its different secondary schools’ students is essential.
PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goals
- To empower at least 800 youths to make informed career choices over a period of 3 months.
- To foster leadership qualities in over 800 youths over a period of 3 months.
Objectives
- To organize a series of orientations annually, focusing on various career paths, job markets, and skills development.
- To establish a mentorship program pairing youths with professionals.
- To foster leadership qualities among youths through career development sessions.
PROGRAM STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
| Strategies | Duration per phase (2 months) | Activities | Description |
| Collaboration | 1 month | Request for collaborations from schools and other youth led entities. | This is to target our main beneficiaries which the youths from aged 15-21. |
| Online awareness | Throughout the project | Carrying out career orientation sessions through social media platforms by hosting webinars, regular posting, etc | This strategy will ensure that the goal of the project is being realized not just in Buea but in Africa and the world at large. |
| Mentorship and career orientation Programs | 2 month (with specific dates for a particular school depending on their availability). | Creating comprehensive guides that include information on emerging job markets, educational pathways, field specialization and personal development resources. Pairing of youths with mentors from various industries to provide guidance, insights, and encouragement. | To ensure that 90% of the youths make the right decision on their career path. |
| Evaluation and expected feedback | Throughout the project | Implementation of an evaluation framework. | To assess program effectiveness and gather feedback for continual improvement |
MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLANNING
- Baseline Assessment: Surveys will be conducted to understand the available knowledge and skills of participants regarding career options and job market awareness.
- Ongoing monitoring: Follow up on attendance, involvement levels and feedback during events. Question and answer discussions during the program will also be used to gather data on participants engagements.
- Evaluation: Upon completion of each session, surveys will be conducted to evaluate knowledge gain, and overall satisfaction.
EXPECTED OUTPUT, OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS
Outputs
- 4 hours of orientation will be conducted with an average of at least 50 students per school in a session.
- 10 mentors and experts will provide valuable insights to participants.
- Pre and post program surveys completed by participants.
Outcomes
- Expected 40% increase in the knowledge of career paths for participating youths.
- At least a 20% increase in youth engagement in leadership roles.
- Creation of supportive network for further career development.
Impacts
- Increase youth participation and involvement in community and leadership roles.
- Formation of a supportive network for ongoing career development.
SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
- Build partnerships: Collaborate with secondary schools to ensure continues follow up on the effective use of information from orientations.
- Train-the-trainer model: Train and encourage participants to become peer mentors by extending the knowledge gained from the programs to friends and community members. Also, become facilitators for future programs.
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