“I love being in constant contact with young people and being able to help them define their personal and professional projects so that they can find their way and succeed in life.” These are the words of Malala Ranaivomanana Harivololona who works as an Integration and Guidance Counsellor (CIO) in a Technical Vocational High School in Madagascar. Integration and Guidance Counsellors are key to increasing the integration of new workers into the job market and thereby reduce national unemployment. Their role is to act as a bridge between learners, TVET centres and the world of work. They act as career advisors, supporting learners transition into the job market or entrepreneurship, while building long-term relationships with the private sector to help learners find internships and employment opportunities.
With support from UNESCO’s Capacity Development for Education (CapED) Programme, Madagascar’s Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training (METFP) is working towards setting up committees in every TVET institution to be run by CIOs. This initiative is part of the Government’s National Employment and Vocational Training Policy (PNEFP), which was developed with CapED support. The initiative aims to ensure the successful integration of youth graduating from TVET centres into the workforce through, entrepreneurship or employment. The CapED Programme has been supporting the METFP implement this Policy by supporting the sustainable training of new counsellors with a harmonized approach.
Over the years, multiple partners have conducted trainings and designed tools for counsellors. To ensure previous initiatives are capitalized on and to avoid a duplication of efforts, UNESCO, through CapED, played it is role as lead in the sub-sector to organize a coordination meeting bringing together development partners and the METFP to agree on the way forward. A road map was developed to ensure harmonization and for resources to be pooled. Based on this, UNESCO developed a CIO training guide which was validated by METFP.
In 2018, a partnership between the METFP and FOREM led to the training and equipping of 23 counsellors in pilot institutions. CapED built on this by further capacitating 12 of these counsellors on the new training guide. These counsellors have become master trainers and will go on to train the 150 counsellors that the METFP plans to recruit who will be posted in every TVET centre. The approach is designed to cut training costs and to ensure harmonization of CIO quality. In 2021, seven major companies intervening in the fields of construction and topography, among others, signed a partnership agreement with the Ministry in the framework of the initiative, offering learners internships and company visits.
The recruitment of new CIOs will have several positive impacts on the TVET sector,” says Malala who took part in the training to become a master trainer. “Young people will be well oriented and will know which path they should follow, the school dropout rate will gradually decrease, and the employment rate will surely increase thanks to the CIOs’ efforts to develop public-private partnerships. Thus, the performance of the METFP will only increase.
Supporting learners to enter the job market
Malala is not the only counsellor to think that CIOs play a key role. Tahina Mahandry Ratsimbazafy, who is also trained to become a master trainer notes that from his experience, its indispensable to have a guidance counsellor in centres as it reduces leaner drop-out rates. “We had learners who dropped out in the middle of their studies because they would make errors in judgement as there would be no guidance and they would feel lost.” Tahina thinks that by placing a counsellor in each center there will be a change in the number of people joining the job market and that counsellors will contribute towards decreasing unemployment.
Guidance counsellors support learners by helping them plan their career, involving them in workshops on employment in the region, developing their capacities in writing CVs and cover letters, and running mock job interviews. They also play a role in furthering inclusion and reducing gender bias. During an interview with UNESCO, Narindra Andriamboavonjy – who has also become CIO master trainer – noted that, “during our awareness raising, we hammer home that there are no jobs specifically for men or women. During the first-year entrance exams, we favour women who are pursuing welding, masonry, electricity and plumbing and during their internships, we promote these women to large companies.” One of the innovations of the CIO training guide is that it will further support CIOs improve inclusion in training centres as the guide provides appropriate working tools for CIOs to guide young people with visual, hearing, or motor impairments.
CapED’s support in this area is part of UNESCO’s wider support to Madagascar since 2011 to systematically improve the quality and efficiency of TVET at the national level. UNESCO has observed a significant shift in the country’s TVET sub-sector. The Government now prioritizes TVET as a vehicle to boost employment and alleviate poverty and the entire TVET system has been strengthened and restructured, functioning with its first-ever Employment and TVET Policy, a more robust data system, and quality standards for TVET provision with stronger links with labour market needs.
