World Youth Skills Day 2024: Youth is the future of any country. The future and development of the country rests on the shoulders of the youth. So it is important that the youth have the necessary skills to perform in skilled work or entrepreneurial work. Even today a large number of youths are unemployed. Such a situation is conducive to the complementary development of a country. In such a situation it is necessary to create awareness for them to develop employability skills and their potential. To that end, World Youth Skills Day is celebrated on July 15 every year. The day highlights the strategic importance of equipping youth with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
World Youth Skills Day:
In recognition of the need for the world’s youth to upskill, the United Nations General Assembly established World Youth Skills Day in 2014. Since then World Youth Skills Day is being celebrated on 15th July every year.
Purpose of World Youth Skills Day:
The objective of World Skills Day is to equip the youth of the world with the necessary skills for employment, work and entrepreneurship. The objective of this day is to create awareness about maximum skill development among the youth. So that they can get a decent job by looking for better opportunities.
History of World Youth Skills Day:
World Youth Skills Day came into being to create awareness among the youth across the world to reduce the challenges of unemployment and promote employability skills. On Sri Lanka’s initiative, the World Organization’s General Assembly approved the observance of World Youth Skills Day on December 2014. World Skills Day was observed for the first time on 15 July 2015. Since then this day is celebrated worldwide on 15th July every year.
Theme for World Skills Day 2024:
According to the official website of the United Nations, the theme of World Youth Skills Day 2024 is “Skills Educators, Trainers and Youth for a Transformative Future” which highlights the important role that teachers, trainers play in equipping young people with the skills to transition into good jobs and actively engage in their communities and society.
Why is World Youth Skills Day celebrated and what is its significance:
Youth unemployment is increasing which is the most significant problem facing today’s economies and societies in the world for developed and developing countries alike. According to the latest Global Trends for Youth 2020: technology and the future of jobs, since 2017, there has been an upward trend in the number of youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET).
Around 259 million young people in 2016 were classified as NEET and this number rose to an estimated 267 million in 2019 and it is said it will rise to around 273 million in 2021. In terms of percentage, the trend is slightly up from 21.7% in 2015 to 22.4% in 2020 and implying that the international target to reduce the NEET rate by 2020 will be missed.
In 2014, the General Assembly declared to celebrate World Youth Skills Day on 15 July with an aim to provide a chance for young youth, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, and public and private sector stakeholders to recognise and celebrate the importance of preparing young youth with skills of employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship.
World Youth Skills Day 2024: Key facts
– In the whole world, one in five people is NEET which is not in employment, education, and training. Three out of four young NEETs are women.
– Between 1997 and 2017, the young population grew by 139 million and the population of the youth labour force shrank by 58.7 million.
– Almost 2 out of 5 young workers in emerging and developing economies live on less than US$3.10 a day.
– Before the current crisis, young people were 3 times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, currently, more than 1 in 6 young people are out of work.
– For more than 100 years, blending distance learning with practical skills development has proved effective in TVET. In 1910, due to the typhoid epidemic and an urgent need arise, Australia introduced its first distance TVET courses to train health inspectors by correspondence while they worked.
Youth Skill Schemes in India:
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas” scheme was launched in India on July 15, 2015 on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. Under this scheme, the government has provided an opportunity to provide free industrial training to the youth of the country in various fields. With the help of this youth can get training and get employment. Youth between 14 to 35 years can be trained under this scheme. Registration for training can be done for three months, six months and one year. After completing the training, a certificate is also issued by the government.
FAQ
Q: What is World Youth Skills Day?
A: World Youth Skills Day is an annual event celebrated on July 15th to recognize and celebrate the importance of equipping young people with the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace. The day serves as a reminder of the need to invest in the skills development of young people and to promote their participation in the labour market.
Q: Why is World Youth Skills Day important?
A: World Youth Skills Day is important because it highlights the need to invest in young people’s skills development so that they can successfully transition into the labour market and contribute to the economic development of their communities. Investing in the skills development of youth is essential to ensure that countries have a skilled and productive workforce that can drive economic growth.
Q: How can young people acquire the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace?
A: Young people can acquire the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace through a variety of methods. These include attending formal education programs, participating in short-term training courses, apprenticeships, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities. Additionally, young people can also gain valuable skills from volunteering, self-teaching, and engaging in informal learning activities such as online courses.
Source: un.org, unesco.org, wordskills.org
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