Learning

Youth workforce development is many things to many actors. Understanding how to program for it begins with knowing what it is.

Government and development actors are increasingly understanding the value of higher education investments. Higher education plays a unique and catalytic role in developing individuals and societies. And yet, myths about how USAID defines higher education, as well as its benefits, access, and financial strain abound.

Higher education has a unique role in preparing learners with the advanced knowledge and skills they need to succeed in today’s global economy.

While social and emotional learning is important for all children and youth, for those in conflict and crisis, it is critical. Research from the developed world and emerging evidence in crisis-affected countries demonstrates that the harmful effects of toxic stress can be stopped or even reversed when children are exposed to safe and predictable learning environments, and actively participate in explicit social-emotional learning (SEL) activities.

Evaluating programs can help us learn from them and design better ones; recently the Office of Education took this spirit farther and evaluated its evaluations.

SEL adds to the lives of individuals and communities in many ways, from combating toxic stress to academic achievement to strong economic returns.

In Rwanda, USAID-funded projects like Soma Umenye, Mureke Dusome, and Huguka Dukore promote gender equality in education, while working to improve reading and learning outcomes and developing young people’s work readiness skills.

In 32 conflict-affected countries alone, 21.5 million children, 15 million adolescents, and 26 million youth are out of school. Millions more have had their education disrupted by disasters, crime and violence. Achieving results in these challenging environments calls for innovative approaches to the design, management, and evaluation of education programs.