Summary

Motivation

Young people's futures are at risk. Global crises such as armed conflict, climate change, mass displacement, and public health emergencies are threatening the education and wellbeing of adolescents all over the world. But young people are also resilient and innovative. It is vital that they have opportunities to develop relevant skills and knowledge, to build resilience, and overcome these challenges now and in the future.

Purpose

This special issue brings together researchers and practitioners in the field of international education. Its purpose is twofold: to illustrate how current global challenges shape the types of skills needed to build resilience; and to offer possible solutions to supporting young people's development of such skills.

Methods and approach

The articles in this special issue draw on both quantitative and qualitative data, including surveys and interviews with students, parents, teachers, school leaders, nonformal education providers, and government officials. Most studies present evidence from sub-Saharan Africa.

Findings

The findings presented in this special issue address a range of skills, including foundational literacy and numeracy, hard skills in digital literacy, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship, and soft skills, such as critical thinking, confidence, voice and agency.

Policy implications

With the special issue we aim to draw more attention to the need for research and policy that equip youth with relevant skills and that see them not just as subjects of the challenges they encounter, but also as active agents of change. We also highlight the importance of an intersectional lens that addresses not just gender, but also other individual and household characteristics, such as student age, disability status, and poverty to support youth resilience and skills development.

1 INTRODUCTION

The world is changing rapidly. Globalization, technological innovation, mass displacement, and climate change are shaping the ways in which societies function, progress, or falter. Within this context, children and youth are some of the most affected. Their lives and their futures are on the line—requiring them to develop skills and capacities to cope with the challenges presented in their environments, and to build resilience to the shocks both now and in the future.

Resilience is defined by UNICEF as “the ability of children, young people, households, communities and systems to anticipate, prevent, withstand, manage and overcome cumulative stresses and shocks” (UNICEF, 2022a, p. 8). In the face of dynamic local and global challenges, resilience requires young people to be adaptive and flexible. But young people are not just subjects of the challenges they confront; they are also agents of change, activists, innovators, and influencers—building resilience and spearheading progress over matters that affect them.

This editorial provides a brief introduction and background to the Gender and Adolescence Global Evidence (GAGE) Development Policy Review special issue on skills development. Focusing on the concept of resilience, it first outlines why there is a need to build resilience—in other words, the challenges that are observed globally. Next, it describes who we are referring to: specifically adolescent girls and boys who face unique challenges because of their age and gender. Lastly, we describe how resilience is built—by developing young people's skills through formal and nonformal education. We then provide a brief summary of each of the articles which dive deeper into theoretical, empirical, and programmatic evidence addressing these issues. While several of the articles explicitly refer to “resilience,” for example, in terms of youth skill building (Kwauk & Casey, 2022) or education systems' adaptive capacity (Jones et al., 2021a), others explore more broadly the opportunities and barriers encountered when individuals or communities attempt to overcome diverse global challenges.

2 WHAT DO WE KNOW?

2.1 Why build resilience? The global challenges of today

The challenges are clear. Approximately 1 billion young people—nearly half the world's 2.2 billion children and adolescents—live in one of the 33 countries classified as “extremely high-risk” of climate change (UNICEF, 2021). Droughts, extreme temperatures, landslides, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons contributed to the internal displacement of 30 million people in 2020, nearly half of whom are school age (IDMC, 2021). Conflict and violence also led to another 10 million displaced persons.1 One in six young persons—or a total of 452 million children and youth below the age of 18—lived in a conflict-affected area in 2020 (Save the Children, 2021). An additional 5.2 million children have been affected by the 2022 war in Ukraine (UNICEF, 2022c). Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, 356 million children across the globe lived in extreme poverty (World Bank, 2020).

Covid-19 has only exacerbated these challenges. The economic shocks of the pandemic have pushed an estimated 150 million more children and youth into multidimensional poverty (UNICEF et al., 2020), resulting in increased food insecurity and potentially putting between 9.3 and 13.6 million children at risk of acute malnutrition (USGLC, 2022). As of January 2022—nearly two years into the pandemic—over 616 million students were still being affected by full or partial school closures (UNICEF et al., 2020). Unemployment for young people has also increased during the pandemic, as many work in the sectors most affected, such as hospitality (Children and adolescents deserve a better future, 2022). The “shadow pandemic” of domestic and gender-based violence during lockdown threatens the safety and wellbeing of children and youth (UN Women & Women Count, 2021); and increased use of the internet for remote learning has led to new forms of cyber-violence and insecurity (Plan International, 2021; UNICEF et al., 2020). Fake news and disinformation spread polarizing dialogues and advance extremist and hateful narratives (Mihailidis & Viotty, 2017), thus perpetuating inequalities, inhibiting social development, and putting young people more at risk.

Youth living in low-income and middle-income countries2 are particularly affected by these challenges. Limited resources and budding economies, social conflict, or political instability characterize many nations in which some of the most at-risk young people live (Jones et al., 2021b). Within these countries, subgroups of youth are disproportionately disadvantaged. Girls, young people with disabilities, displaced, migrant, and refugee youth, ethnic and linguistic minorities, and indigenous communities are more often among the most vulnerable. Intersecting vulnerabilities compound challenges for girls and boys—and a young person's age shapes both the risks they face and the protecting factors that they use to navigate the world around them (Baird et al., 2021a).

2.2 Resilience for whom? Adolescence and the intersection of age and gender

There are 1.3 billion adolescents in the world today, a larger number than ever before, making up 16% of the world's population (UNICEF, 2021). Adolescence is a pivotal stage in a young person's life.3 The years of adolescence are marked by dramatic physical, cognitive, and social changes (Blum et al., 2014). As adolescents, girls and boys further develop their own gender attitudes and behaviours (John et al., 2017). Adolescence is also a period of increased expectations for boys and girls to adhere to socially constructed gender norms (Kågesten et al., 2016). With this comes added risks.

Adolescent girls and boys face unique challenges because of their age. Once girls reach puberty, they are subject to increased risks of diverse forms of gender-based violence. In 20 countries, nearly nine in 10 adolescent girls who had been victims of forced sex said this happened for the first time during adolescence (UNICEF, 2017). Globally, approximately 15 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 report having experienced forced sex (UNICEF, 2017); and more than 650 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthday (UNICEF, 2018). Gender norms shape perceptions around men's right to sex, and the role of women as mothers and wives, influencing the way girls are subject to gender-based violence, and other risks, including to their education—such as unpaid domestic work (Harper et al., 2020).

The risks that boys confront are different, but still pressing, and are often shaped by norms around masculinity and the role of men as household breadwinners. Adolescent boys are more likely than younger boys—and their female peers—to be involved in school violence, often both the victims and perpetrators of bullying (UNESCO, 2019). The second leading global cause of death for adolescent boys (aged 10–19) in 2019 was interpersonal violence (resulting in 43,700 deaths) (UNICEF, 2022b). Recent estimates also suggest that 97 million boys (compared to 63 million girls) were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020 and exposed to risky and exploitative situations (ILO & UNICEF, 2021).

2.3 How to build resilience? The importance of skills development

Addressing the challenges described above is the responsibility of all stakeholders. International commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for urgent action to both mitigate risks and better prepare societies to cope with challenges as they occur. SDG 13 seeks to combat climate change and its impacts; and SDG 5 promotes gender equality not only as a human right but also as “a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world” (UN, n.d.). SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, commits to developing young people's skills in literacy, numeracy (4.6), information and communication technology (ICT) (4.4.1), and global citizenship (4.8). There has been sustained interest in international comparative assessments—such as early grade reading and maths assessments (EGRA and EGMA, respectively)—to rank and compare literacy and numeracy outcomes; and in recent years, new assessments and survey tools are beginning to measure students' digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and transferable skills (UNICEF, 2021).4 Education systems have shifted to competency-based curriculum frameworks that aim to promote the development of applicable skills over knowledge-outcomes (Anderson-Levitt, 2017). Technical and vocational training has become increasingly recognized as a vital option to support young people's transitions into labour markets (Chipfakacha, 2019); in addition, there has been a growing interest in private sector engagement in order to align education and training to the demands of the labour market (UNDP, 2017).

Equipping young people with skills that are relevant and applicable to their local context is of paramount importance. Yet education systems across the globe are still failing many children and adolescents. Even before the pandemic, over 617 million children and adolescents—more than half (56%) of the world's population—were not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics (UIS, 2017), and this number is likely to increase as a result of school closures caused by the pandemic (Patrinos et al., 2022; UNICEF, 2022b). Although 92% of children start primary school, only 78% transition to lower secondary school due to dropout, repetition, and non-transition; only 57% complete lower secondary school by the age they are expected to (usually 15 or 17 years); and only 53% transition to upper secondary school (Yao et al., 2021). Poor educational outcomes are further reflected in labour market patterns: the youth unemployment rate (ages 15–24) in 2020 was 17%.5 Further, these global averages mask drastic differences across countries, communities, and households. Poverty is still one of the driving factors shaping the future outcomes of young people, as are intersecting inequalities based not only on gender, but also age, class, race, ethnicity, disability, and citizenship status (Ciampi et al., 2022; Unterhalter et al., 2014). Although progress had been made over the years to strengthen education and narrow gaps, Covid-19 has reversed decades of progress (UN, 2022), and continues to threaten the lives of millions of children and adolescents in LMICs.

With this, it has also become increasingly apparent that governments will need to turn to innovative and flexible solutions to provide equitable access to quality learning opportunities for all students. New forms of financing, public–private partnerships, and multistakeholder collaboration—especially between governments, nonformal education providers, and the private sector—are among the potential approaches emerging (Verger & Moschetti, 2017). A range of high-tech, medium-tech, and low-tech technologies are being exploited in an attempt to reach the most marginalized students and teachers (e.g., Hennessy et al., 2022; Lynch et al., 2022). Educational development agendas that are centred on youth, and created with and by students (and teachers), are being promoted (Romer & Hansen, 2021). It is through efforts at all levels of the ecosystem (home, school, community, national and international policy) that education systems in LMICs can also build resilience to respond to future shocks—and ensure sustained support for all young people in times of crisis.

Exploring the wide range of potential policy solutions to strengthen education systems to respond to the global challenges affecting young people is outside the scope of this editorial. To identify those approaches that yield the most impact, and that effectively lead to improvements in adolescent skills development, there is a need to conduct more research and disseminate insights and evidence that can enhance our understanding of these complex issues. It is within this context that this special issue was envisaged and realized.

3 WHY A SPECIAL ISSUE ON GENDER, ADOLESCENTS, AND SKILLS?

While adolescence is a period of increased risk for young people, it is also an opportunity to foster their skills and knowledge and prepare them for the future. GAGE is the largest global study on adolescents, following over 20,000 girls and boys in six LMICs to understand adolescent capabilities and empowerment. Drawing on mixed methods and longitudinal research from seven contexts across Africa (Ethiopia, Rwanda), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal), and the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine), GAGE seeks to generate “evidence on ‘what works’ to enable adolescent girls and boys to emerge from poverty and fast-track social change for young people, their families, and communities” (GAGE, n.d.).6 GAGE research situates young people's skills development, within a socio-ecological framework, recognizing how the home, community, national and subnational governments, as well as global patterns influence adolescents' individual and collective wellbeing (Baird et al., 2021b; Baird et al., 2021c).

Grounded in these same principles, this special issue brings together research and evidence on adolescent skills development in LMICs. The articles present evidence generated within the GAGE consortium—managed by ODI—as well as by external stakeholders, including researchers and practitioners from the Mastercard Foundation, EdTech Hub, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, Build Up, and others. The articles in this special issue focus on adolescents and young people from diverse contexts, household conditions, socioeconomic levels, and communities that are rural, urban, or peri-urban. Several of these articles focus on sub-Saharan African countries (Baxter et al., 2022), including studies conducted in Uganda (Damani et al., 2022), Rwanda (D'Angelo et al., 2022), and Ethiopia (Jones et al., 2021a). But the challenges they address are diverse—from climate change to digitalization and misinformation, the impacts of Covid-19, and gender equality. And the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they explore are extensive, including foundational skills in literacy and numeracy, hard skills such as digital or financial literacy and entrepreneurship training, and soft skills such as critical thinking, confidence, voice, and agency. We also include one article that provides a conceptual overview of young people's “green skills” (Kwauk & Casey, 2022); it presents a framework for understanding adolescent skills across a continuum, moving from instrumental to transformative.

4 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTICLES

This section provides a summary of each article in the special issue. In particular, it outlines the context of the study in relation to both the global challenge it is addressing and/or the types of skills explored; a brief note on the research design or methodology, key findings (though often not exhaustive in relation to the article itself), and a point specifically related to how the article addresses gender, age, or the intersection of gender and age with other individual and/or household characteristics (e.g. disability, poverty, parental education level, etc.).

4.1 Addressing climate change with green skills

A green skills framework for climate action, climate empowerment, and climate justice (Kwauk & Casey, 2022).

The first article sets the stage by providing a framework of skills needed to address one of the most far-reaching challenges: climate change. Using a critical feminist perspective, it emphasizes the importance of considering gender and age in theoretical and empirical research examining skills development. The authors present three types of green skills which constitute the pillars of a new green learning agenda for climate action, empowerment, and justice: green life skills, skills for green jobs, and skills for green transformation. This framework draws on over 300 publications and the perspectives of 23 stakeholders from multilateral, government, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on green skills.

User perspectives on digital literacy as a response to misinformation (Diepeveen & Pinet, 2022).

The next article shifts to young people's perceptions of skills, particularly in relation to how digital skills can support young people in navigating fake news, misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet and social media. While fake news is a challenge in itself, participants unanimously reported that "the Covid-19 pandemic amplified their reliance on digital communication and information flows”, suggesting the intersection of these two global challenges. The article intertwines the research findings with its methodology, highlighting the benefits and limitations of virtual consultations for qualitative research collection. It also expands on digital skills to include addressing risks of cyber-security and gender-based violence—as well as digital divides for certain subgroups of youth, including those in rural communities, women and girls, young people with disabilities, migrants, IDPs, refugees—a notion that the authors relate to Emejulu's concept of “radical digital citizenship” (in Mclean, 2021). Through the perspectives of adolescents and youth, the article emphasizes how young people see addressing these challenges as not just the responsibility of the individual, but also social media conglomerates, technology companies, and governments.

4.2 Remote learning with technology during Covid-19

EdTech for Ugandan girls: Affordances of different technologies for girls' secondary education during the Covid-19 pandemic (Damani et al., 2022).

Continuing the topic of technology, the third article examines different modalities to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, the most recent global challenge. Using a mixed methods case study of the NGO, Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS), it explores how students' demographic backgrounds shape the ways in which EdTech can best support their academic, social, and emotional development. Findings suggest that boys and girls were equally impacted by increased domestic work, but different types: girls were involved in domestic work and caring responsibilities, while boys were expected to help with gardening and fetching wood. These distinct needs shaped young people's EdTech preferences when learning at home, as the timing of such activities impacted their access to lessons broadcasted by radio and TV. The authors also point out a methodological limitation that affects how gender inequity reveals itself in the study: girls engaging in the most domestic work were not in school before the pandemic (and therefore not included in sample). At the same time, the article points to various other characteristics of inequity, including socioeconomic level, parental education, and home language.

4.3 Returning to schools during the Covid-19 pandemic in Ethiopia

Disrupted education trajectories: Exploring the effects of Covid-19 on adolescent learning and priorities for “building back better” education systems in Ethiopia (Jones et al., 2021a).

The next article also explores the global challenge of Covid-19, but this time in its later stages upon schools reopening. GAGE researchers draw on data from a large-scale survey of over 3000 students and apply an adapted framework for resilience systems analysis to explore Ethiopian schools' “adaptive capacity.” Adaptive capacity is defined as the ability “to make changes to moderate any potential damage to the system and adjust to the changing situation”. Results suggest that the implementation of remedial classes and certain health and safety measures related to Covid-19 varied widely across schools. The article also reiterates the importance of consideration for not just girls, but also adolescents with disabilities, and those living in rural areas.

4.4 Equitable transitions through secondary school and to work in sub-Saharan Africa

Improving pathways for girls and disadvantaged youth through secondary education and into work: Evidence and reflections from practice (Baxter et al., 2022).

Moving from the school to the system, the penultimate article explores policy-level factors that contribute to girls' improved access, transition, and completion of secondary school and into labour markets. It looks at the skillset required to prepare young people for the changing nature of work in the subregion, and the need to keep girls and other vulnerable youth in school to support their participation in informal labour markets. The authors draw on applied research to provide evidence of promising examples of equity-based financing models, flexible pathways to enter and move within and throughout secondary education tracks, as well as the need for curricula that develop entrepreneurship skills, including digital literacy. While some of these strategies address specific barriers that girls face (e.g., risks of adolescent pregnancy), others can be used to support vulnerable youth more broadly. While the authors do not expand upon effective teaching and learning practices, this is the focus of the following article.

4.5 Life skills for gender equity

Teaching and learning for life skills development: Insights from Rwanda's 12+ programme for adolescent girls (D'Angelo et al., 2022).

The final article zooms into the pedagogical and design features of a nonformal education programme. Drawing on evidence collected by GAGE about Rwanda's 12+ programme for adolescent girls, this article resonates with the previous one in that many of the findings—while specific to girls—are relevant for other youth. Effective teaching and learning strategies identified by the authors include dialogic teaching, experiential learning opportunities, structured teaching and learning materials, and scaffolded support for mentors. Just as important as the technical side of teaching was the ability of mentors to act as role models, create safe spaces, and foster trusting, positive relationships. As a result, adolescent girls learned how to save money or to speak about sexual and reproductive health topics that are generally considered taboo or difficult to discuss. The authors reflect on how these pedagogical insights can apply to the Rwandan formal education system. They also remind readers that it is this close-up examination of teaching and learning that allows us to develop a framework for understanding skill development—bringing us back full circle to the framework presented in our first article (Kwauk & Casey, 2022).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With thanks to Rachel Marcus and Caroline Harper, ODI, and all GAGE special issue authors for their review and input.

FUNDING INFORMATION

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE).