In celebration of World Youth Skills Day, which took place on 15 July, we look at how the Coalition's Global Skills Academy is preparing young people for the workforce.

                                                             

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.  

• However, worldwide 267 million young people aged 15-24 are still not in any form of employment, education or training.  

• In 2020, the number of young people in employment fell by 34 million 

• And 1.25 billion workers around the world risk job loss or displacement                     

In 2020, UNESCO launched the Global Skills Academy (GSA) to provide one-stop access to training that can help young people develop skills for employment.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused high levels of unemployment and young people are the most affected. They are over-represented in the hardest-hit sectors of the economy and the ILO estimates that even young people who still have jobs have seen their working hours cut by nearly 25 per cent. 

Since the pandemic, and with millions of young people still not engaged in any form of employment, education, or training, the GSA adopted a scale-up strategy under the new UNESCO TVET Strategy for 2022-2029 and committed to supporting 10 million learners by 2029.  
                    

With 25 Coalition partners from the private sector, as well as international organizations, and foundations, the GSA mission helps support youth to develop digital and green skills for decent and inclusive employment. Working in partnership with 220 UNEVOC Centres in over 170 countries, learners are matched with trainings offered by members. 

As of June 2023, the Global Skills Academy mission has supported over 839,000 learners across 60 countries to develop skills to improve employability. 

The Global Skills Academy is excited to welcome on board the following Global Education Coalition Members: 
                    


You can find a full list of GSA Members here.  

Empowering youth for a sustainable future: Building skills for tomorrow 
Last week, on 14 July, in celebration of World Youth Skills Day and the third anniversary of the Global Skills Academy mission, UNEVOC and WorldSkills co-organized a hybrid event which brought together experts in the field, policy-makers, and youth leaders to dicuss the role of skilled young people in building a sustainable future for all. 

The first panel of the day included a youth focus group and a discussion on how teaching and learning processes can be optimized to prepare young people for a changing labour market. The second panel reflected on UNESCO’s Global Skills Academy and its work to scale up youth skills development, as well as what more can be done to build employability, entrepreneurship, and resilience for youth.  

Opportunities to gain professional experience
TGS (Think Global Sustainability), which recently joined the Global Skills Academy mission, will support youth through a new internship programme. The internships will be carried out in TGS companies around the world, in person and in the local language of each country – this professional experience will allow interns to develop soft skills, digital skills, job specific abilities and language knowledge.
TGS is an international network of SMEs specialized in Audit, Accounting, Advisory, Tax and Legal services, present in over 50 countries. As an active signatory to the United Nations Global Compact since 2017, TGS’ ESG strategy is not only aligned with the SDGs, but also the mission of the Global Skills Academy. As an international network, TGS has the possibility to create synergy around educational projects and joins the GSA with the aim of multiplying its impact and collaborating on an employability project.

Online certifications for digital skills 
Digital Ad Expert, the social initiative of Aleph Group, Inc., launched its Digital Ad Certificate program last month for the first cohort in Grenada. The Digital Ad Certificate program offers a series of customized modules and virtual sessions where students can meet online and access to a wide range of online resources to enhance their learning experience.  
Over the next three months, approximately 200 students from Grenada are expected to participate in the programme. Digital Ad Expert also plans to launch "Train the Trainers," an intensive training course aimed at upskilling approximately 50 digital advertising trainers, creating a solid foundation for empowering students in the country.  

Huawei hosts 7th annual ICT Competition 
Every year, Huawei organizes activities such as the Huawei ICT Competition and Talent Job Fair to promote talent value. The ICT Competition provides an international platform for global students to showcase their abilities and exchange skills, while the job fair helps graduate students access high quality job opportunities in the industry and facilitates talent career development. On 27 May this year, the Huawei ICT Competition 2022-2023 Global Finals were held in Shenzhen, China, with over 429 college students from 146 teams across 36 countries participating in the event.

Festo launches new learning portal  
In May, Festo Didactic hosted two webinars on its new FESTO Learning Experience Platform (LX) – an online portal for teachers and learners to access courses across technologies and create a customized learning experience. Topics such as mechanical or electrical engineering, water management, or renewable energy were addressed and the platform’s functionalities were presented – learners can access technical education that meets industrial requirements and combine eLearning courses and practical exercises for the development of application-orientated competencies, among other things. Check out the platform here.  

Pix implements pilot project in Tunisia 
Earlier this year Pix, the French online platform open for everyone to assess, develop, and certify their digital skills, successfully implemented a pilot project to support more than 600 teachers in Tunisia to develop and certify their digital skills. Since joining the GSA as one of its founding partners in July 2020, the platform has also contributed to the development and promotion of digital skills of learners in technical and vocational education in various institutions across the country. 
Globally, Pix has helped more than 4.7 million pupils, students and teachers to improve their digital skills yearly and keep up with changes in education. In June this year, the platform won the European Digital Skills Awards 2023, organized by the European Commission, in the category “Digital Skills for Education” and was recognized for the scope of its work and impact on students, teachers, and schools.  

Read the Global Education Coalition's recent report to learn more about how the GSA and other flagship missions are transforming education.

• In Peru, an initiative by the Global Skills Academy is providing more than 100,000 young people access to training in key employability skills thanks to a collaboration between Fundación Telefónica, a partner of the GSA, and SENATI.  

• Meanwhile, in India, KPMG launched a new mentorship initiative with the National Skill Development Corporation International (NSDCI) to support young graduates entering the labour market in India. 

• In the Philippines, thousands of learners have already completed Microsoft’s Digital Literacy Course thanks to a partnership between the tech company and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre in Manilla. 

• Dior’s global mentorship and educational programme has coached and supported thousands of young women from nearly 60 countries with a focus on five core values: self-care and self-awareness, autonomy, creativity, inclusion and sustainability. 

The first edition of Digital Learning Week, the re-branded successor of Mobile Learning Week, will be held from 4 - 7 September 2023 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. With a vision of “Steering technology for education”, the event will examine how digital platforms and AI are shaping the digital transformation. It presents a unique opportunity for education leaders, policy-makers, researchers, and practitioners to engage in lively discussions, exchange ideas, and drive the digital transformation of education forward.

During the event, important initiatives will be introduced, including the unveiling of the draft AI Competency Framework for teachers and AI Competency Framework for students, as well as the UNESCO Guidance for the Use of Generative AI in Education and Research. The Award ceremony of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education will take place on 7 September, while the beta version of the Global Gateway to public digital learning platforms is set to be launched on 5 September.

To participate in the event, registration is currently open through the following link.

GSA Member Generation Global is inviting educators worldwide to enhance their professional skills by mastering the art of dialogue through the 'Introduction to Dialogue' online course. This no-cost and self-paced course, which takes approximately 4–5 hours to complete, equips formal and non-formal educators with the necessary knowledge and resources to incorporate intercultural dialogue practices into their curricula and communities.       
Upon successful completion of the course, educators will be awarded a certificate and digital badge as recognition of their achievement. The course offers a comprehensive learning experience, helping educators develop a strong foundation in dialogue pedagogy, learn effective strategies for teaching the five core skills of dialogue and access a pool of Global Citizenship materials. These resources include lesson plans, worksheets, skill-building activities, and an action plan. Any educator, anywhere in the world can access the course at no-cost here.