A Case Study of the Vocational Education and Training in Tanzania (VETA)
The economic downturn and declining social sector performance in the period 1980-1995 have substantially influenced the debate on skills supply and demand in Tanzania. The downturn saw a substantial decline in the key skills indicator of literacy that had reached a high of 90.4 per cent less than a decade earlier. Central to the debate concerned that the key skills inputs such as primary school enrolment and primary-secondary transition rates were either falling or stagnating. While there have been improvements in schooling in recent years, the skills debate has nonetheless continued to be informed not least by an absolute increase in youth unemployment in recent years. Recent estimates suggest that at least 2 out of 5 youth are in a state of long-term joblessness or unemployment for a period of one year or more.