For 210 young people in Geita District who are outside the formal education system, basic literacy is being combined with practical skills in an effort to help them move from learning to earning.
The beneficiaries are being trained in reading, writing, numeracy, entrepreneurship and practical skills that can be applied to income-generating activities, including making liquid soap, bar soap and animal feed.
The training is being provided under BRIDGE Tanzania, a pilot project implemented by the Tanzania National Commission for UNESCO in collaboration with the Government of South Korea.
The project is targeting young people who did not get an opportunity to complete formal basic education, with the aim of giving them skills that can be used in the labour market or in self-employment.
Speaking during a meeting of the BRIDGE Tanzania District Steering Committee in Nzera, Geita, the project's Assistant National Coordinator, Adriano Adrian Hyera, said the focus was on ensuring that young people could use the skills they acquired beyond the classroom.
“The goal is not just to train young people, but to build their capacity so they can use what they have learnt after the training to earn an income and become self-reliant,” Mr Hyera said.
The programme starts by strengthening participants' basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy before introducing practical training linked to economic activities in their communities.
The approach seeks to address one of the challenges facing young people outside formal education: having limited access to both academic qualifications and marketable skills.
In Geita, participants are provided with equipment and materials to support practical learning, allowing them to gain experience in producing goods while undergoing training.
For some beneficiaries, the training has opened up possibilities of using small-scale production as a source of income.
The project also places emphasis on entrepreneurship, with participants encouraged to view the skills they acquire as potential business opportunities rather than training that ends with certification.
From training to access to capital
Mr Hyera urged beneficiaries to form groups of five to take advantage of loan opportunities available through local government authorities.
The groups, he said, could help young people mobilise resources and turn their newly acquired skills into income-generating activities.
This is an important stage for the programme because skills alone may not be enough to create sustainable livelihoods if beneficiaries cannot access capital, markets and the equipment required to operate businesses.
The project is therefore seeking to link training with opportunities that can help participants move into production and self-employment.
BRIDGE Tanzania is being implemented as a pilot in Geita District, Masasi District and North A Unguja.
It aims to reach 3,000 young people over five years, or about 600 beneficiaries annually.
The pilot is expected to generate lessons on how young people who are outside the formal education system can be supported through a combination of basic education, practical skills and economic opportunities.
Its wider significance will depend on whether participants are able to use the skills acquired to establish or expand income-generating activities.
The Tanzania National Commission for UNESCO is coordinating the project as part of efforts to expand access to education and skills for young people who have been left outside the formal education system.
For the 210 beneficiaries in Geita, the immediate test is now whether the skills gained in training can translate into products, businesses and reliable incomes.
That transition—from learning a skill to earning from it—will ultimately determine how much the programme changes the economic prospects of the young people it targets.