Conclusión: la tarea de construir una teología del laicado

The assessment of learners and eval- uation of learning/training outcomes is conducted on an ongoing basis by programme facilitators or social workers, UYDEL field supervisors and

master artisans. The social worker and UYDEL field supervisors conduct regular visits to the master artisans’ work places in order to assess the training progress and any challenges being encountered, as well as to ascertain the artisan’s capacity to train the youth. The social worker and UYDEL field supervisors also use the field visits to identify behavioural changes in the youths and to provide them with ongoing psychosocial counselling, support and guidance. Furthermore, the master artisans also regularly evaluate the youths’ overall behaviour, training performance and progress and present reports to UYDEL.

IMPACT

The NFELSTP has made a significant impact on marginalised youths’ voca- tional skills competencies, livelihoods and psychosocial behaviour as well as on their communities’ development and general living standards. The programme has thus become one of the major instruments of fostering individual and collective (social) empowerment and transformation. More specifically, an evaluation report by UNESCO identified the following key contributions of the programme on youth and societal development and well-being:

Employment generation, poverty alleviation and behavioural change: a majority of the youth who completed training in various vocational trades are now gainfully employed. This has not only enabled them to be self-reliant but has also improved their quality (standard) of life. One of the programme beneficiaries testified thus: ‘I was picked by UYDEL staff when I was so poor to the extent that poverty could be seen from my face. But now I can see with a smile. I am so happy because I am self support- ing and useful to my family members’. The youths’ ability to support them- selves as well as to contribute to their families’ subsistence has inevitably raised their living standards, imbued them with a sense of self-worth, pos- itive attitudes and future perspectives and improved their social standing. Furthermore, the integration of practical skills training with health education, psychosocial counselling and guidance has also improved the

youths’ self-esteem and confidence. This has enabled the youths to transform their lifestyles and thus prevented them from (re-) engaging in risky antisocial behaviour as one graduate attested: ‘I left commercial sex [work after training in tailoring] and life is fantastic now. I get orders from many customers and earn about 150,000 shillings a month’. An artisan trainer gave a similar testimony: ‘The children we received were rebellious, reporting late, and could give us hard time when training them; but now they have changed greatly. We even trust them with money and they keep it’.

Youth and community empower- ment: the programme has equipped the youth with practical life and vocational (marketable) skills and as a result, they are now less vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by employers as they are now better able to negotiate their employment conditions including levels of remuneration. Furthermore, it has also enabled youth to establish their own income generating enterprises, thereby generating more employment opportunities for other youth in their communities. In addition, public awareness about HIV/AIDs has led to discernible changes in the youths’ sexual behaviour.

Social transformation and cohesion: the use of local artisans as youth trainers and social mentors (i.e. in the rehabilitation of vulnerable children) has helped to foster social cohesion. In addition, the programme has also inculcated the youth with a sense of social or civic responsibility which has, potentially, fostered family and cohesion as well as prevented some youth from engaging in anti-social behaviour including violent crime. The programme has also boasted the business activities of master artisans who can now employ more youth and provide better services to their communities.

CHALLENGES

Although the programme has had a positive impact in the lives of marginalised and vulnerable youth and their communities, it has also encountered major challenges. The

UNESCO evaluation report cited above revealed the following key challenges:

Lack of resources: programme funding from UNESCO has been limited. For example, the grant from UNESCO did not cover the costs for the purchase of training tools, clothing and protective gear and transport to training centres. This has had a negative impact on youths’ ability to attend classes as most of them are very poor and cannot afford these costs on their own. There is also a lack of resources to support graduates to start their own income generating activities.

Some local artisans that are engaged by the programme have limited equipment/tools. This has had a negative impact on their ability to effectively train the youth and has also shifted the burden to UYDEL by way meeting extra costs of buying tools for the youth to train with. Time limitations: the trainees are sup- posed to complete the skills training programme in (on average) three months. This period is too short to enable trainees to effectively acquire practical skills especially in view of the fact that some of them lack the basic and necessary literacy skills. Some of the trades such as carpentry and motor vehicle mechanics have seasonal customers. This affects the learning process since the trainees learn as they earn. Eventually it creates redundancy with the youth having to wait for a new customer to place an order before receiving any form of training.

Some trainees are demotivated by the fact that some artisans do not pay them despite the contributions they make to the growth of their business- es. This has led to perceptions that the artisans are motivated by making profit rather than assisting the youth to improve their lives.

Artisans have also raised concerns that some youth who dropped out of school or never attended school tend to have difficulties in grasping the basic practical concepts necessary for skills acquisition. Such trainees tend to spend more time acquiring

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Transforming Our World: Literacy for Sustainable Development a skill, which inevitably increases

programme costs.

LESSONS LEARNED

A number of lessons have been learnt during the course of the project implementation. These include:

■ Community mobilisation and in-

volvement of key community leaders, parents and the youth themselves is central to the success and sustaina- bility of non-formal educational pro- grammes. Most importantly, active community participation is essential in identifying the most vulnerable and deserving youth from the commu- nities. Professional networking and collaboration: the involvement of professionals from diverse fields is critical for the success of integrated youth-centric educational pro- grammes

■ Integrated programming:

because marginalised youth have multiple socioeconomic problems, it is imperative to institute holistic and integrated learning which address- es this. For example, literacy and business skills are central to enabling trainees to establish their own enter- prises. Such an integrated approach is also more attractive to the youth and their parents.

■ Cost effectiveness: the use of

local master artisans instead of formal vocational institutions is a more cost effective (cheaper) approach of implementing non-formal youth educational programmes. It not only helps to cater for more vulnerable youth but also serves to expose trainees to specific realistic work conditions and the challenges they are likely to meet. This enables them to learn how to effectively deal with such challenges. The trainees earn a small income which helps to improve their living standards and motivates them to continue participating in the programme. Furthermore, the local artisans understand the situations these youth are in and are better able to provide appropriate mentorship.

■ Regular monitoring: a social

worker needs to make regular visits and hold meetings with local artisans to monitor the progress of training. This also helps to monitor problems during the training and to find solu- tions.

Regular counselling is essential in fostering successful youth behavioural change.

SOURCES

■ UNESCO Evaluation Report (2006)

Non-Formal Education and Livelihood Skills for Marginalised Street and Slum Youth in Uganda.

CONTACT

Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL)

Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road, BIFRO Hse

P.O. Box 12659, Kampala, Uganda, Tel: 041-530353

EGYPT

In document MADRIGAL, S., El Giro Eclesiologico en La Recepcion Del Vaticano II, 2017, OCR (página 176-182)