Education, Science and Technology > Education, Training, Science & Technology > Education Reform
Proyecto Joven: New Solutions and Some Surprises
By Claudio de Moura Castro (07/99, EDU-110, En)
This note describes a very interesting project to train unemployed youth in Argentina and discusses several critical issues facing it. Proyecto Joven, as it is called, was found to have several remarkable features:
- By contrast to conventional programs, there is outsourcing of the training courses, as well as the identification of the markets and of several auditing and control mechanisms. Overall, the operational schemes function quite well.
- The training was conceived as a program to identify market niches that could be exploited by unemployed youth. Yet, given the absence of a serious system to train industrial workers, Proyecto Joven ends up as an ersatz training system for the country.
- In its unexpected role of mainstream training system, it operates less efficiently than expected. Every course contracted ends up reinventing conventional industrial training. It also lacks economies of scale resulting in courses which are too expensive for what they are.
- In the absence of a solid tradition of industrial training, the training providers do not have well-prepared trainers and good quality materials, nor do they have the incentives to invest in such capacity.
- Tracer studies with the corresponding control groups show substantial increases in the employability of men but fail to show improvement for women.
After several decades of economic stagnation and institutional stalemate, the Argentinean economy was reformed, inflation controlled, and the regulatory framework revised. The early 90s witnessed a fast economic growth even if the employment creation was less than spectacular. However, since 1995 growth stalled again and unemployment never stopped growing, reaching presently 30 percent for youth from 15 to 24 (from ages 15 to 19 it reaches 46.8 percent for men and 58,7 percent for women).
It goes without saying that such high unemployment rates are painful and disruptive. The social conflicts which have been so hard to mitigate in the past may again find fertile ground if unemployment is not alleviated, a situation the Argentinean government wants to avoid.
As a result of these uncomfortable statistics, the government has taken several initiatives both to reduce unemployment and to avoid its worst consequences. The Programa de Apoyo a la Reconversión Productiva funded by the IDB is one amongst others and the Proyecto Joven is part of this loan.
Last updated: 01/16/07
