Technical, vocational education and training and youth unemployment in south Sudan: a case study of yambio county, western Equatoria state

Abstract

The purpose of the study which led to this thesis was to find out to what extent technical vocational education and training programmes can address the issue of youth's unemployment in the new Republic of South Sudan, and Yambio County in particular. The study was directed by three objectives; To find out to what extent TVET programmes can address the issue of youth unemployment in post-conflict independent South Sudan. To explore means by which gender issues such as gender stereotyping may affect TVET programmes in addressing youths' unemployment problem in South Sudan and to find the extent to which the poor public perception of TVET can affect the youth unemployment intervention programmes. The study was based on descriptive study design with the qualitative approach employed in the research. In order to come out with the population of the study size of 25 informants, comprising of 10 youths on the street, 10 students from the only vocational institution in the county and 05 TVET professionals, the following sampling methods were used; random sampling procedure (youths on the street), purposive sampling for the professionals and stratified random sampling for the 10 students. At the end of data collection in Yambio County, the raw qualitative data were then processed in the Microsoft Word, corrected the grammar, and organized in order to scrutinize unnecessary irregularities. Data was then arranged according to the research objectives by copying and pasting. It was read and re-read to identify similar themes and the possible sub-themes. The findings of the study indicated the following; TVET has a big role to play in the youth unemployment if the country is to develop. The study established that many youths are not employed because of lack of technical vocational skills. The study further discovered that the perception towards TVET is very positive. All the youths interviewed showed that they had a good attitude towards TVET. On the other hand, the women can study TVET courses. The finding indicated that society, especially those interviewed did not have a negative attitude towards this kind of education. All informants interviewed echoed the importance of TVET in the alleviation of the unemployment problem of the youth in the Yambio County. Findings of the study also brought to light some causes of unemployment among the youths in the county. Cardinal among them is lack of TVET skills. Several recommendations were made to help the youth of Yambio County and the Republic of South Sudan at large come out of the unemployment problems.