{"id":2955,"date":"2024-04-29T10:40:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T08:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ietp.thenoklu-studio.com\/conversations-with-senegals-educational-ecosystem-the-imperatives-to-employability\/"},"modified":"2024-07-18T16:57:53","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T14:57:53","slug":"conversations-with-senegals-educational-ecosystem-the-imperatives-to-employability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entreprenanteafrique.com\/en\/conversations-with-senegals-educational-ecosystem-the-imperatives-to-employability\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversations with Senegal’s educational ecosystem: the imperatives to employability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each year, Senegal sees a cohort of 200,000 young people enter the job market, according to official figures from the Ministry of Employment, Vocational Training, Apprenticeship and Integration. Yet, despite this abundance of potential manpower, youth unemployment remains a major concern.<\/p>\n

This reality raises a crucial question: why this gap between job supply and demand? And why are so many young graduates struggling to find a place in the job market?<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, professions have undergone a continuous and growing evolution, requiring graduates not only to have technical qualities, but above all to be able to demonstrate personal and interpersonal skills and attitudes: soft skills.<\/p>\n

In this article, we talk to a number of people involved in education, vocational training and entrepreneurship in Senegal, about updating knowledge and the importance of developing soft skills for employability.<\/p>\n

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” The skills young people are trained in are not always adapted to the real needs of the job market. “<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The training of young people must be aligned with the real needs of the labor market to ensure an effective transition from education to employment. On the one hand, this gap can be explained by the fact that too much emphasis is placed on the acquisition of theoretical knowledge to the detriment of practical skills. In the short to medium term, this gap can be bridged by hands-on learning in the early years of training, through internships or work-study schemes. Secondly, there is the technological lag: technological advances are constantly modifying skill requirements, and training programs are not updated quickly enough to keep pace with this evolution.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Florence Diob, Financing Manager, <\/span>Financing Fund for Vocational and Technical Training<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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”\u00a0 Developing soft skills as well as hard skills”<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The quality of education has improved significantly, at least from a technical point of view, but employability requires learners to develop soft skills as well as hard skills. Communicating effectively, resolving conflicts, managing interpersonal relations… these skills can be acquired through an initial training circuit, but also via continuing and short-term training courses. Working on these aspects enables you to acquire a complete set of skills that are necessary to succeed and assert yourself in a competitive professional world.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Harouna Thiam, Responsable<\/span> Formation-Insertion – <\/span>Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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” Teach and professionalize “<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is a notable difference between teaching, which is the transmission of knowledge and concepts, and professionalizing, which aims to prepare learners for a professional environment by developing practical, applicable skills.<\/p>\n

We offer a school-enterprise training program, with two application restaurants and a patisserie, so that students are exposed to a professional environment right from the start of their apprenticeship. Since 2006, we have also set up partnerships with leading hotel establishments to recruit young apprentices. In the near future, we also plan to set up a placement agency for our graduates.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Sidy Dieme, Director of <\/span>Institut<\/span> Les Marmitons<\/span><\/strong>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

” An entrepreneurial school “<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The vast majority of training courses teach students how to do a job. We have made it our mission to teach them how to create one. Our actions begin in the first year of the bachelor’s degree, with the inclusion of an entrepreneurial module in the curriculum to complement managerial skills.<\/p>\n

The Entrepreneurial School takes place in 3 stages:<\/p>\n