SOFT SKILLS

The young people of today present unique opportunities and will confront unique challenges. To equip young people to take hold of these opportunities and meet these challenges, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have highlighted the positive impact that life-skills education and financial education can have on children and young people.International bodies have stated the need for education in such skills,and a growing number of countries have strengthened the teaching of both social skills and financial skills in their curricula.

In recent years, as the evidence base on the importance of soft and life skills for fostering positive youth outcomes has grown, international youth development programs have increasingly focused on interventions that develop those skills (also referred to as socioemotional skills, transferrable skills, non-cognitive skills, and developmental assets, among other terms).

Young people make up the majority of the world’s population, and the majority of those young people are in the developing world (USAID 2012). Educators recognize that the skills a person needs to succeed in today’s world are more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. Transferable skills are higher-order cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills that individuals can use to be successful across different situations in work and life.

Education and work in the Middle East and North Africa region will determine the livelihoods of over 300 million people and drive growth and development for generations to come. As one of the youngest populations in the world, it is imperative that the region make adequate investments in education and learning that hold value in the labour market and prepare citizens for the world of tomorrow. In addition, as the global transformation of work unfolds in the region, policymakers, business leaders and workers must be prepared to proactively manage this period of transition.

Despite the recent economic slowdown, the majority of African countries continue to experience economic growth, rising trade and increasing inflows of foreign investment. Peace, political stability and good governance are also on the rise. Yet a closer examination offers a sobering reminder that growth alone does not guarantee equitable development.

The idea of global citizenship has existed for several millennia. In ancient Greece, Diogenes declared himself a citizen of the world, while the Mahaupanishads of ancient India spoke of the world as one family. Today, education for global citizenship is recognized in many countries as a strategy for helping children and youth prosper in their personal and professional lives and contribute to building a better world.

Gender-based wage discrimination is a highly researched area of labor economics. However, most studies on this topic have focused on schooling and paid limited attention to the mechanisms through which cognitive and noncognitive skills influence wages.