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The rate of unemployment in Nigeria is alarming and could promote social vices some of which are kidnapping, armed robbery, child trafficking, cultism, drug peddling and ritual killing. These social vices could in no small measure constitute a threat to national security as a matter of fact. Therefore, the development of a workable technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programme in the country is the needed panacea to creating job opportunities for the teaming youth. This will definitely reduce to its barest minimum threat to national security. This paper gives insight into: youth employment as a vehicle for enhancing national security, ways adopted by other countries in promoting the poor perception of TVET, lessons to be learnt from other countries as regards enhancing the perception of TVET, existing youth employment programmes in Nigeria and the way forward to boosting employment creation in Nigeria.

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This report explores how forms of social inequality are framed in adult education discourses across Europe and Australia. To achieve this goal, it presents an analysis of the concept of vulnerability in lifelong learning policies, at European level and national level (Austria, Bulgaria, England, Estonia, Flanders, Italy, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain and Australia). Methods of analysis include corpus-based critical discourses analysis of 68 European lifelong learning documents (1992-2018), interviews with policy makers (6), analysis of funding schemes (European Social Fund) and analysis of vulnerable groups in the lifelong learning policies of the nine countries forming part of ENLIVEN [Encouraging Lifelong Learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe] including Australia.

Results show that the use of terminology related to vulnerability is not used uniformly throughout the period analysed. It is detected during the first period (1992-1999), documents refer to the most vulnerable groups as marginal or excluded. From the year 2000 the main vulnerability indicator seems to be the low labour capacities. The implicit motives suggested in relation to 'vulnerable groups' appear to be educational attainment (low qualified, early schools leavers, migrant background and age), to which are added structural motives related to their origin (people from disadvantaged social strata, poverty niches or disadvantaged areas) or to global factors (lack of employment, development of the learning society). Faced with this situation, the policies analysed propose, above all, to develop the basic skills and new competences needed to enter the world of work.

With regards to national policies, across all the countries studied within the EU as well as Australia, unemployment, alongside low levels of skills, were the most prevalent dimensions of vulnerability targeted by policy measures. By understanding the concept of vulnerability solely in relation to the labour market, young vulnerable young people are framed as lacking certain attributes - those that would enable them to be incorporated into the world of paid employment. Those attributes they do possess - however valuable to themselves personally, or to society - go unrecognized. In this context, the proposal that lifelong learning policies should focus on individual needs without addressing structural measures seems insufficient. Moreover, this situation constrains the rationale of adult education, forgetting its critical and creative dimension that seeks a deep analysis of reality in order to transform it.

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There are more than one billion young people worldwide aged between 15 and 24, representing the largest cohort that has ever had to progress from childhood to adulthood. Almost 87 per cent of them live in developing countries (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2011). As many as 123 million of this generation, 61 per cent of them girls, were reported to be illiterate in 2011 (UIS, 2013). Young people who have never been to school or those who have dropped out (or been ‘pushed out’) are among the most vulnerable. Being excluded from basic education puts a wide range of opportunities beyond their reach.

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The youth employment challenge has its own dimensions and confronts countries worldwide regardless of their stage of socio-economic development. Youth unemployment needs to be addressed critically by all nations including Tanzania. Youth make up the next generation of parents, workers and leaders of any nation. Their wellbeing, therefore, has implications not only for their own lives, but also for the societies they will build and maintain. Their ability to play effective roles depend on the support of their families, communities and on commitment of governments to their development. This paper highlights the role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and how the TVET structures, policies, plans, strategies, and programs are set up in the context of Tanzania in addressing youth unemployment. It further highlights some of the initiatives the Government of Tanzania has put in place to address the issue. Also highlighted are recommended interventions to be put in place to address youth unemployment. The paper finally gives conclusions on how the matter can further be approached by involving all key stakeholders.

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The island economies in the Pacific are small nation states located at a considerable distance from large economies and each other in the vast Pacific Ocean. Their land mass, population size, ethnicity, and natural endowments vary considerably. Most Pacific member countries (PMCS) in this region receive very high amounts of aid per capita but economic growth has proved elusive. With persistently high population growth and the youth population reaching 40 per cent, finding productive employment is becoming more challenging. Greater labour mobility would expand the employment options available to Pacific islanders, but it is currently limited and skewed in favour of skilled workers.

This report is motivated by the need for jobs for the Pacific islanders who cannot source them domestically. Even as the business environment improves, employment creation will be limited by the challenges of demography, size, and geography. This report's main purpose is to examine the economic arguments - analytically and empirically - in favour of greater labour mobility, by addressing three fundamental questions: (1) What is the extent of demographic pressures facing the Pacific? (2) What has been the development impact of remittances on migrant-sending households and communities? and (3) Is it possible to design migration programs that balance the benefits of migration with the concerns of sending and receiving countries?

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Juvenile delinquency is a serious social problem. While there have been multiple studies relating to the causes of delinquency, little research exists that examines the lived experiences of the juveniles themselves. Few studies give a voice to the juvenile. Through understanding the descriptions of the juvenile delinquent's lived experiences we may gain insight into the juvenile, which may help in predicting and preventing juvenile delinquent behavior. One area that has been identified as a possible factor in delinquency is the educational environment. This study will provide a description of the educational experiences of juvenile delinquents. Using a qualitative case study approach, the researcher examined the descriptions of educational experiences as given by former juvenile delinquents. From a theoretical perspective in psychology, specifically educational psychology, the factors that impact learning from both a positive and negative perspective are in essence the overall focus. Through understanding of the former juvenile's description it may be possible to identify common experiences shared by the sample population.

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Moral panics relating to anti-social youth have accelerated in recent years, and there has been an increasing recognition that preventing problematic behaviour is more effective than sanctions once it occurs. Drawing upon General Strain Theory, this paper explores the social pressures that might stimulate anti-social behaviour and gang culture. It explores the impact of schools/youth work partnerships, focusing upon empirical data arising from a small-scale educational intervention involving vulnerable young people (aged 11-12) in Glasgow. The findings illustrate that the 35 young people who participated in the initiative gained an increase in social capital, changed their reactions to social strains and demonstrated a change in their self-reported participation in anti-social behaviour. However, the participants continued to view teachers and youth workers as two distinct groups with differing ideologies, and a collaborative 'border-crossing' pedagogy was never fully realised. The paper draws upon the insights to identify future implications for policy, practice and research.

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The Agrifood Youth Employment and Engagement Study (AgYees) examines the potential of sub-Saharan Africa's agrifood systems to provide new jobs for unemployed, underemployed and disadvantaged youth, and identifies constraints affecting the capacity of youth to take up these economic opportunities. Two analytical tracks generated insights and guidance on cost-effective strategies and programmatic entry points most likely to improve employment options and livelihoods for disadvantaged African men and women. The first reviewed economic mega-trends for Rwanda, Tanzania and Nigeria and projected how economic changes, specifically farm structure and dietary transformations, will affect future job prospects for rural and urban African youth. The second focused on Rwanda and Tanzania and examined the economic and policy environment affecting youth engagement with the agrifood system, assessed the supply and demand for related workforce training and perceived gaps, and distilled best practices and lessons learned related to youth economic programming. A further analysis examined the structure of consumer demand for food, projected likely changes over the next five years, and linked these consumption changes to changes in future employment. To validate and expand on these findings, AgYees researchers made site visits to Rwanda and Tanzania to conduct focus group and individual semi-structured interviews with major stakeholders working on youth employment issues related to the agrifood system.

Key findings include: agricultural productivity growth can generate strong multiplier effects that expand job opportunities in the broader economy; more systematic private sector engagement is needed to develop appropriate curriculum and provide opportunities for students to get meaningful practical experience and training. Based on the results of this study, the AgYees team offers the following recommendations for youth-related programming in Rwanda, Tanzania and Nigeria. A policy brief summarizes the findings of the study.

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Only about half of Latino, Black and Native American students graduate from high school. Much of the research explains school dropout using statistical relationships between dropout rates and a variety of 'risk factors' attributed to students, like income, race/ethnicity, academic achievement and behaviors and attitudes. In contrast, this study examines two Latino adolescents' everyday experiences of dropping out in the context of cultural and structural aspects of school and consciously works against the common view of poor students of color as inherently 'at risk' for school dropout. We illuminate how, through educational neglect and social and intellectual alienation, schools and school adults contributed to these two students' progressive disengagement from school. Implications for practice and further research are explored.

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The best defence against social exclusion is having a job, and the best way to get a job is to have a good education, with the right training and experience. But every year some 161,000 young people between 16 and 18 are not involved in any education, training or employment. For the majority these are wasted and frustrating years that lead, inexorably, to lower pay and worse job prospects in later life. The report sets out in detail both the scale and nature of the problem. It shows that while most young people enjoy a fairly smooth transition from school to work, often passing through A levels and university, a large minority lack support or guidance, and clear pathways to take them along the way to good jobs and career opportunities. It proposes establishing a much better support service, founded around personal advisers, to guide young people through their teenage years and help them get around the problems that might stop them from making the most of learning. It proposes a clear goal for young people to aim for with a new approach to graduation that would set a demanding, but achievable, standard encompassing not only formal qualifications but also other achievements in key skills and the community.

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