Background
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) engaged the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) to conduct an external review of the Youth Education Pack (YEP) model. The project was an opportunity to compare YEP programmes across countries focusing on three main research questions:
1) Can the YEP model be adapted, or the skill elements redefined, without a consequent reduction or compromise on effectiveness?
2) Can adaptations to the YEP model increase the effectiveness of the programme, through a greater scale of programming?
3) How do outcomes differ for male and female YEP learners?
A desk review was conducted on 13 countries and 21 programmes based on over 250 programme documents. One field mission to the YEP programme in Dadaab (Kenya) was also conducted. The final review was supplemented with interviews and questionnaires with NRC staff at head office and field level.
Summary of Findings
Adaptability
The model has taken many forms over the years depending on the country context, to the extent that it is difficult to speak of any single, standard YEP design. Some adaptations include:
- Establishing links to labour markets through apprenticeship contracts with local businesses run by trained artisans
- Less focus in vocational training on trade skills (carpentry, plumbing, etc.) and more on agriculture and animal husbandry in response to lack of demand for the latter in rural areas
- Expansion into areas such as computer literacy, satellite installation and secretarial courses
- Integration of the life skills component into the curriculum of the literacy and numeracy classes
- Inclusion of a peace education focus to the life skills component
Cost Effectiveness
Major costs identified for YEP include salary of local staff, infrastructure where it has been deemed necessary to build or rehabilitate physical structures for programme use and incentives for participation (daily meals; food for families of the beneficiaries; etc.). While YEP is acknowledged to be more expensive than academic programmes that don’t include TVET, programme staff and guidance documents both point to the necessity of higher investment to achieve the desired outcomes and impacts. The report presents a menu of options for potential adjustments to the YEP programme with an eye toward cost savings and scaling up.
Sustainability
Sustainability of YEP is constrained by both a lack of capable partners in government, civil society and the private sector, as well as high costs that make it too expensive to hand over to the government or other agencies. NRC seems to struggle with a lack of clear goals for YEP with regard to the issue of sustainability and exit strategy. Given the nature of the contexts in which YEP operates sustainability might necessarily be a secondary concern.