Uganda, US organisations teach Cameroon students entrepreneurial skills

Amom Charity, an international NGO based in United States, in collaboration with the Ugandan organisation, EDUCATE, have taught Cameroon students entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

The education experts have corroborated results of the Pan-African trend that was recently published from a research stating that, in most African countries, unemployment is highest among the educated.

Against the backdrop that skills play a crucial role in solving most problems facing African youths today, Amom Charity, in collaboration with EDUCATE, an NGO in USA with six years of experience in Sub Saharan Africa, recently ferried experts from US and Uganda to Bamenda for one-week training of Government Secondary School teachers on entrepreneurial and leadership skills. The teachers are expected to pass-on the knowledge to the students in schools.

The National Programme Manager of EDUCATE Uganda, Solomon E Kayiwa Mugambe, said EDUCATE partners directly deal with secondary schools to run entrepreneurial leadership programmes focused on 21st Century skills, and partners with Government curriculum, policy, and teacher training institutions to make national reforms. He said EDUCATE’s 10-year vision is to provide life-changing skills education to one million African students annually.

“That is the more reason why EDUCATE has partnered with Amom Charity to expand the programme in Cameroon. Together, with Amom Charity, we believe that the youths of Cameroon are the solution to many of the issues facing our communities. When you are a leader in your community, you solve problems. When you are an entrepreneur and you start your own business, you create employment opportunities for yourself and others. This is what the skills programme is all about,” Kayiwa averred.

He disclosed that, in Uganda, 50 percent of EDUCATE students graduate from secondary schools with a business in hand. He said, ‘globally, 311 million young people are unemployed, largely due to the mismatch between education and life after school. “This problem is most acute in Africa, the youngest continent-with a lack of formal jobs. Over 90 percent of African youths work in the informal sector.

The consequences of all these is that education systems across Africa are delivered on false promise which does not lead to employment and the opportunity to make a living for the families who have invested so much to put their children through school. This broken promise is a tragedy that critically needs to be addressed,” Kayiwa remarked.

He told teachers that EDUCATE have proven that secondary school leavers offer huge opportunities to fix the broken promise of education and capitalise on a largely untapped resource for change. Students can learn the 21st Century skills to end poverty for themselves and their communities.

The Chief Executive Officer and Manager of Amom Charity, Kisito Aforwiri Fondzeyuy, said the reality is that most African education systems focus on basic and academic skills that are irrelevant for employment and entrepreneurship. Teachers, he went on, are not typically trained to develop skills.

“So, when we succeeded in getting big global partners like EDUCATE and the acceptance of the Minister of Secondary Education who received us, we count ourselves lucky, because, our children will not be jobless after leaving school.” He said this is the first time EDUCATE is sending a team of experts to train teachers outside their head office in US and the branch in Uganda.

To the CEO of Amom Charity, everyone is a businessman by default and their goal is to help students who might drop out of school to be able to create jobs and be good leaders tomorrow.

“From the way this project has succeeded, scoring 163 percent in Uganda, I am certain it will equally succeed in Cameroon,” Aforwiri stated.

After the training, most teachers said, due to high unemployment, University Graduates in Cameroon today are fighting to own the dresses of their parents, because of over dependence.