Strengthening Skills development through ICT & e-Learning to enhance Youth employability to fight hunger & Poverty – A case for Swaziland Presented by Peterson Dlamini at the 5 th Annual UNESCO-UNEVOC e- Learning Summit Held in Dar es Salaam May 2011

Location of Swaziland on the map of Southern Africa

Some facts about Swaziland  It is classified as a middle income country and lies in the bottom level of the quartile.  Has population of 1.2 Million people  Its GDP stand at US$2.29 bn and its main revenue comes from SACU 70% (2009) and the rest from agricultural export.  It is land locked and share boarders with South Africa and Mozambique  Covers a land area of 17000sq Km

Challenges facing the country  High rate of HIV infection, poverty and unemployment  Increasing numbers of young graduates from the few tertiary institutions we have who can not be absorbed by the job market  Access to Higher /Tertiary Education and Vocational Training centres posing great challenge due to space shortage  Some Programmes offered in our tertiary/ higher institutions not adequately addressing the emerging economy  Inadequate involvement of industry in the development of vocational curriculum

How we plan to pull ourselves from the above challenges  The Swaziland has developed and adopted a Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP).  Vocational training and Skills development has been identified as one of the key areas that need to be strengthened to address Unemployment & Poverty.  As there are few Voc Training Centres cf. to the number of potential learners, the use of ICT & e-learning best option

Steps we have taken to strengthen the use of ICT & e-Learning  We have made it a requirement that all students from our TTCs and Universities take and pass a course on Digital literacy before they can be allowed to graduate.  Special Computer Courses for those who would be teachers have been developed and embedded in TTC/University curric.  Communities with assistance from gov have built computer labs in schools, and Gov has supplied computers.

Steps taken to use ICT & e-learning to increase access to Vocational Training  With assistance from our Development Partners i.e. the Republic of China on Taiwan, and local/intl philanthropists, gov has been able to;  Supply computers and also provide internet connection (internet cafes) at some strategic points in rural areas where learners can take online courses.  In areas where telephone lines are not available, SPTC and SEC have been drawn to assist in providing solar panels.

Vocational Courses that we are planning use in the e-learning pilot project  Pilot Areas  Tourism and Hospitality  Water Technology  Secretarial and Office Management  Other Issues we have addressed  Training of Service providers in using ICT and e-learning as a teaching tool  Identification of Voc Centres where we are to pilot the e-learning project

Group Photo of ICT Teachers

Challenges we anticipate to face  Inadequate number of trained technicians to provide services and maintenance to the computers  Shortage of appropriately qualified computer teachers.  The low teacher salary shall cause high staff turnover.  High costs to internet connections might course the project to stall  High rate of unemployment could increase crime, hence theft to our computers

 Thank You