On July 15th we celebrate World Youth Skills Day, which was declared in 2014 by the United Nations Geneal Assembly. This day was agreed upon to celebrate the importance of equipping youth and young people with the skills for employment, work, and entrepreneurship.
This year, the theme is Skilling Teachers, Trainers and Youth for a Transformative Future which highlights the essential role that teachers and educators have for our youth.
According to the U.N., ‘technological advancements and shifting labour markets dynamics increasingly call for agile and adaptable skill sets. It is crucial that we empower young people to navigate these changes effectively. Technical and vocational education and training is well placed to meet these demands by reducing barriers to the world of work, ensuring that skills gained are relevant, recognised and certified, promoting green skills and practices, and offering skills development opportunities for youth who are not in education, employment, and training.”
The Global Skills Academy was launched on 2020’s WYSD in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. There are over 267 million young people across the world, between the ages of 15 and 24, who are not engaged in employment, education, or training. The mission of the Global Skills Academy is to connect individual learners in developing learners, institutions, and governments to a wide range of training programs and their goal is to support learners in developing key 21st-century skills including digital, entrepreneurial, and green skills.
Ways to support World Youth Skills Day include:
- Highlight the importance of vocational education and training
- Volunteer to help youth apply for VET programs
- Talk to your kids, students, etc, about the skills they need for their potential future careers
- Educate yourself about challenges youth may face in the areas of education and employment
- Share VET success stories on social media
“On World Youth Skills Day, let us unite in recognising the potential of young people as catalysts for change and commit to providing them with the skills and opportunities they need to build a prosperous and sustainable world for all. Together, we can shape a brighter future where no young person is left behind.”
