How Education Plays an Important Role with Indigenous Employment Strategy

Indigenous Employment Strategy

For much of the last decade, industry, government, and non-profit leaders worldwide have been raising the alarm about a growing youth employment crisis, especially among the indigenous population. This urges the need for an Indigenous Employment Strategy. It’s for a good reason. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are around 71 million unemployed 15- to 24-year-olds worldwide, many facing long-term unemployment. This is close to the historic high of 13%.

Without work experience and income, these young people are at risk of living in poverty for the rest of their lives. They travel to other countries in pursuit of a brighter future, where they will most likely struggle to find a job and a better life. Their dilemma has far-reaching repercussions for national and international firms looking to develop or invest in promising frontier areas. Chronic youth unemployment puts a brake on national economies, and firms’ potential to generate stronger growth, better profits, and more jobs are limited by a lack of a literate and skilled youthful population.

Furthermore, organisations’ ability to innovate and adapt is hampered when so many young people lack the skills they need to succeed in increasingly automated settings. According to a survey released last year by the International Commission for Financing Indigenous Education Opportunities, roughly 40% of businesses worldwide find it difficult to locate workers with the required skills.

It will be impossible to close the skills gap – particularly in developing nations – as long as hundreds of millions of children do not obtain a primary school education or receive an education of such poor quality that they do not acquire what they need to know. That’s the far quieter – and all-too-quiet – issue lurking beneath the surface of youth unemployment. Indigenous corporations and private-sector entities have a significant stake in the outcome. Responses to the indigenous education problem have lacked the urgency and resources required to tackle it for far too long.

For example, donor aid to basic education in developing countries declined by more than 14% in real terms between 2010 and 2014. The good news is that we already know what it will take to enrol more youngsters in school. This is at the heart of the Indigenous Partnership for Education’s efforts:

• The focus is on females.

There’s a lot of evidence that more girls getting an education leads to significant social, economic, and health benefits — and that it can help reduce young unemployment. Despite advances over the last decade and a half, over 61 million girls are still not in basic or lower-secondary school, and women account for two-thirds of the world’s illiterates.

• Educating people, particularly during times of crisis and conflict.

Around 75 million youngsters aged 3 to 18 live in war-torn nations and require educational assistance. Compared to children in non-conflict countries, children living in crisis and conflict are more than twice as likely to be out of school. Adolescents, on the other hand, are more than two-thirds more likely to drop out. Let’s ensure these kids can continue to learn even in the face of adversity and promote more Indigenous Participation Plans to aid them in support.

• Assuring high-quality education.

Too many children – over 250 million – do not complete fourth grade or do so without learning fundamental reading, writing, and math abilities. This learning problem must be addressed immediately.

• Investing in child care and education in the early years.

 The first five years of a child’s life are critical for cognitive development and learning to guarantee a good foundation for learning. A rising number of developing countries recognise this and are investing in early childhood education, especially for children from marginalised communities.

• Committing to a significant increase in funding.

The largest difficulty confronting indigenous education is a lack of funding, an idea well understood by the corporate community. According to the Education Commission, education spending should rise from $1.2 trillion annually to $3 trillion annually by 2030. The vast majority of this will have to come from developing country governments, although assistance from large donors, including the private sector, will be critical.

To be clear, that’s a considerable leap, especially when governments – both developed and developing – are already struggling to address a slew of other requirements both within their borders and around the world. However, without this new level of investment, generations of children, especially those of aboriginal communities in Australia, would be denied access to the education they need, with indigenous consequences.

Is It True That Technology Is Creating More Jobs?

Artificial intelligence (AI) will assist in automating tedious and more complicated repetitive procedures, allowing people to focus on high-value, relationship-building services. At the same time, AI/chatbots are deployed in areas where they thrive. AI is poised to create new duties for professionals primarily focused on human talents that AI will never be able to offer, regardless of how powerful the technology is.

AI trainers, individuals to support data science and competencies linked to modelling, computational intelligence, machine learning, mathematics, psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience, are some of the professions formed around AI technology.

There is currently a significant demand for creative employment since, as previously stated, “technology or machines cannot execute any creative work, problem thinking, or interpersonal skills required for advisors, leadership, teamwork, or sales.” So what’s gaining popularity in the job market are jobs with high EQ (emotional intelligence) quotients, which provide opportunities for advancement and higher pay in these fields.

Digital Technology Has the Potential to Solve the Indigenous Unemployment Problem

Digital technology is assisting in the development of appropriate skills among youth. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) provide today’s youth with low-cost, customisable education worldwide without putting financial strain on students or forcing them to adhere to the rigid schedules of traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

Technology is also assisting in outsourcing internet tasks to children and teenagers. Companies are now embracing internet markets to outsource their functions to people worldwide in more significant numbers than ever before.

Finally, technology is incentivising young people to explore careers in digital entrepreneurship. They may now both start and run their businesses, whether to maintain and service technology through internet kiosks or mobile phone repair or to establish digital start-ups using mobile apps. Youths can now more readily get funding through internet sites such as Kickstarter, which helps to alleviate concerns.

Indigenous youth unemployment and the need for Indigenous Employment Strategy is a complex issue with no quick answer. Still, it may be addressed by nurturing constructive solutions using digital technology by taking specific tangible initiatives.

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