Secondary Education and Vocational and Technical Training

From 2016 to 2019, Geneva Global conducted the pilot Innovation Lab initiative with civil society and government partners in Ethiopia to provide a second chance at secondary education for out-of-school primary certificate holders.  These youth were either long-term unemployed or mired in menial day labor or subsistence economic activities but aspired to secondary education as a pathway to economic security and overall fulfillment.  The program helped the youth in two main ways.  First, it allowed them to complete their secondary education as full-time day students, in evening classes, or by distance learning, covering all the costs.  Next, it enrolled them at the same time in vocational and technical education classes, including construction, electrical maintenance and electro-technology, computer maintenance, auto mechanics, and hotel management/food preparation.  Around 90% of the participants completed the program.  Those who did not left early because they found rewarding, remunerative jobs.