McLellan, Iain & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda)

2.1 ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

2.1.10. Improving linkages between formal and informal economy

Recommendation: 3. In designing programmes on the IE, pay attention to context, including country geographic, socio-cultural and economic differences. Actions on establishing linkages may work well in one context but not another. Innovations on linkages between formal and informal entities should be vetted through pilot and stakeholder consultations to ensure their suitability for the local context. Options should then be tested in a new context before scaling up. This is necessary to make public/private investments into strengthening the enabling environment more successful in the whole country.

Reference: McLellan, Iain  & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Sample evidence: the evaluation briefly revisited the elements of the Rwandan context that most likely affected the effectiveness of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project. The analysis contributes to the quality of the analysis of the project results.

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2.3 DIRECT ACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES

2.3.4. Leadership, life skills, empowerment training, literacy/numeracy

Recommendation: 4. Ensure balance between soft skills and higher-qualified technical skills in order to provide a more fruitful spectrum of opportunities to newly-trained workforce. Soft skills may include providing customer service, leadership, conflict resolution and good teamwork.

Reference: McLellan, Iain & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: Through several questionnaires and interviews, the evaluation found  that the employers  greatly appreciated Akazi Kanoze graduates in relation to their “soft skills”. The soft skills that graduates developed, such as customer service, leadership, conflict resolution and teamwork, were commended by employers in all sectors, and particularly in those involving contact with the public.  Graduates were perceived as being distinguished from their peers by stronger communication and relationship skills by 86% of employers, and an equal percentage also viewed the Akazi Kanoze Work Readiness certificate as holding significant value when considering an applicant for a position at their place of business. Then, all interviewed employers had strong praise for the quality of the Akazi Kanoze graduates and their work ethics, remarking on their discipline and tendency to work hard. The participants themselves observed that they had gained confidence in themselves and had gained a variety of skills that would enable them to thrive in society.

Employers also appreciated the technical skills of graduates of food preparation, security and construction (particularly when the employers had direct involvement and actively partnered in determining the content of the skills development), with the exception of technical capabilities in the areas of Information and Communication Technology and automobile repair that were not sufficiently developed to interest employers in the sector on the scale anticipated.  Graduates with training in auto mechanics and electricity were considered to have good basic skills but lacked expertise. Similarly, an employer within the catering unit of a hotel noted that graduates had a minimum level of qualification but required considerable on-the-job training.

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2.3 DIRECT ACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES

2.3.6. Vocational education/skills training

Recommendation: 13) Provide training with a specific session on doing job applications and strengthening of professional confidence. Do not underestimate that lack of preparation and experience in applying for a job is one of the main challenges that prevent those in the unemployed workforce from finding an employment opportunity.

Reference: McLellan, Iain  & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: according to the evaluation, Akazi Kanoze graduates were questioned in focus groups and telephone surveys regarding the value of the program in improving their ability to access economic opportunities. Increased technical and practical skills, strengthened professional confidence, greater preparation for the job seeking process, and an improved ability to create economic opportunities through entrepreneurial training were considered the main benefits of the Akazi Kanoze program. Among those surveyed by telephone, 96% either agreed (14%) or strongly agreed (82%) that Akazi Kanoze had increased their self-confidence in finding work.

Graduates shared such remarks as “We are now prepared to apply [for jobs] and work,” “We learnt how to search for jobs,” and “I used to sit at home and wait to hear from friends about jobs, but now I have a CV and letters of recommendation.”

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2.3 DIRECT ACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES

2.3.6. Vocational education/skills training

Recommendation: 30) When designing projects, take into account that people who never attained primary education may require supplementary assistance to level off with higher-educated participants (who are at least able to read and write).

Reference: McLellan, Iain  & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: according to the evaluation, requiring a minimum education level for youth program participants (such as completion of lower primary) improves the likelihood that youth will master the work readiness and technical training. Some trainers reported that training secondary and primary school leavers together improved the quality of learning across the board, particularly during group work. In USAID’s project in Rwanda, while youth with low literacy levels were the primary target population in the original plan, the Education Development Centre of Akazi Kanoze found they required considerable supplementary assistance to match the performance of the more highly educated participants. “If being able to read and write is a minimum requirement, it makes a big difference. They have the capacity to understand and accept the concepts quickly and either continue in school or look for opportunities for work,” one sub-grantee partner coordinator observed.

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2.3 DIRECT ACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES

2.3.7. Labour market analysis to determine types of education/training provided 

Recommendation: 1) Ensure a good alignment between training and economic opportunities. Develop a precise strategy to assure training participants have a coherent and successful transition from training to work and that a system is established to provide follow-up support with participants.  Promote the establishment of employment opportunities of graduates of TVET in project design by planning linking with the private sector from an early stage.

Reference: McLellan, Iain  & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: an analysis of data that the evaluation team collected in the Akazi Kanoze project revealed mixed results regarding alignment between technical skills training and economic opportunities accessed. Those who received skills training did not necessarily access opportunities within the sector for which they were trained, with considerable variation between particular technical sectors. Among sub-grantee partners that took a more active role in facilitating the transition of Akazi Kanoze graduates into economic opportunities, a greater degree of alignment can be seen. There was also evidence that some of the technical training was insufficient for the needs of the sector. Qualitative data collected found that a minority of graduates were still without economic opportunity, or complained of low wages and long hours.

It should be noted that not all those who successfully accessed an economic opportunity received a complementary training or developed skills for work in specific sectors. Youth who did not receive complementary training in a specific technical area were generally not the principal beneficiaries of the program, as most were still enrolled in formal schooling or had recently graduated from a university course of study when they received the Work Readiness Training. The number of graduates who found an economic opportunity, disaggregated by sector, includes only those who received complementary training in technical skills.

EDC/Akazi Kanoze estimates that contact was lost with a third of Akazi Kanoze graduates after completion of the program and no information was available on their post-training outcomes. This information gap can be traced back to three causes. First, some sub-grantee partners have not attempted to develop a systematic means of preserving contact with their students after graduation. The transient nature of youths in search of economic opportunity has furthermore translated to their relocation throughout the country, resulting in higher cost and levels of effort to track them outside of Kigali. Finally, the principal means by which contact can be maintained with most youth graduates is by mobile telephone, but contact numbers frequently change as youth alternate between service providers or allow existing accounts to fall into disuse.

The evaluation stresses the importance of keeping in contact with training participants. Due to the transient nature of youths and the fact their mobile phone numbers change relatively frequently, new strategies are needed to maintain contact with Akazi Kanoze graduates in order to follow-up on their success and to help them identify new economic opportunities. In this regard, the evaluation proposed to use SMS. We believe that by now it would be easier to reach young people through e-mails and Whatsapp, by setting an alert system (that in Rwandan case may exploit the broadband free Wi-Fi, available since 2013).

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2.3 DIRECT ACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES

2.3.7. Labour market analysis to determine types of education/training provided 

Recommendation: 4) Enable sub-grantee partners (local NGOs, local authorities etc.) to participate in conducting these market analyses themselves. This can even encourage new contacts between partners and stakeholders that may potentially lead to economic opportunities.

Reference: McLellan, Iain  & Bamwesigye, Jackson, 2012, Mid-Term Evaluation of the Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project (Rwanda), Midterm or interim evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: the evaluation reports that the Akazi Kanoze model studied markets to identify growth sectors where youth were likely to access economic opportunities, build the capacity of technical training providers to deliver the workforce readiness training to recruited youth, facilitates graduates’ access to economic opportunities, then track graduates’ outcomes in the working world.