Analysis and Cases of 169 Targets under Sustainable Development Goals (66)

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the eighth of which is "decent work and economic growth", namely: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. 

Under this major goal, there are twelve targets, the sixth of which is " By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training".

● Current Situation

About the World

Less Young Peple on Labour Market

According to the Report on Global Youth Employment Trends 2020 released by the International Labour Organization, young people’s participation on labor market has continued to decline in recent years. Between 1999 and 2019, global youth population increased from 1 billion to 1.3 billion, but the total number of young people employed decreased from 568 million to 497 million. Although this trend reflects the increasing enrolment in secondary and higher education, which has improved the skills of the labour force in many countries, it also highlights the large number of young people without employment, education or training, most of whom are young women.

Text source: ilo.org

About China

Difficult Situation for Youth Employment 

China has the largest population in the world and difficult  employment situation for young people. Each year, there are a big amount new labor forces, especially college graduates and rural youth, who need to be employed in urban and rural areas. At the same time, there is strong structural employment contradiction of supply and demand. Under the Covid-19 pandemic, college graduates and other young people are facing greater employment challenges.

Text source: National Business Daily

●  Cases

About the World

From Vocational Education to Employment

German has the well-developed vocational education system which has favorite impacts for young people to find a job. Youth unemployment rate in Germany is 6.8%, far lower than the EU average of 16.8%. In the dual system of Vocational Education in Germany, enterprises play a leading role. Each month, there are many apprentice job fairs in Germany. Students sign agreements with relevant enterprises at apprentice recruitment fairs, while they are still in school learning theoretical knowledge. Students spend 70% of their total course time working as apprentice in enterprises and most of the tuition fees are paid by the enterprises that they work for. Students can be paid with salaries subject to their work load.

Dual education system in Germany is subject o market demand, which effectively avoids the disconnection between school education and social needs. German enterprises have a positive attitude towards such recruitment of apprentices. The post adaptability of students trained by enterprises is higher, and the overall cost is much lower than that of social recruitment. Therefore,Siemens, Daimler and other Fortune 500 companies as well small and micro enterprises with only a few employees all have close cooperation with vocational schools.

Text source: People's Daily

Brazil’s Vocational Education Tackling Unemployment

Brazil's education industry and employment were seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic , resulting record high unemployment rate. In order to cope with the epidemic and improve labor skills of the employed population young people, Brazil has strengthened the construction of after-school training institutions and developed a vocational and technical education and training system.

The National Industrial Training Service Center funded and managed by the National Industrial Union of Brazil. It worked with the government agencies and industry organizations, launching low-cost or even free courses to improve vocational skills of the working population and increase employment opportunities with the purpose of improving overall labor productivity in the industrial sector. In 2020, nearly 400,000 new students have been registered. Young people were the main participants in the training courses. People aged 16 to 23 account for 39.3% of the total number of students, and people aged 24 to 31 account for 26.1%.

Text source: jjckb.cn

About China

Millions of Young People Receiving Training

In July 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social security, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League jointly issued and implemented the plan for skills training for millions of young people. A lot of vocational skill training courses were provided to young people including youth apprenticeship training and vocational skills competition training and etc.

From 2020 to 2021, more than 2 million vocational skills training have been provided to youth groups. Companies that provide graduates with enterprise new apprenticeship training are given vocational training subsidies of more than 5000 RMB per person per year. It is proposed to provide youth vocational skills training on a large scale to college graduates and other youth groups as the training object and improving youth employment and entrepreneurship so as to increase youth employment and entrepreneurship, and expand youth employment.

Text source: National Business Daily

Tencent’s Digital Classroom Provides Skill Training

On July 12, 2021, the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Promotes Industrial Support and Rural Revitalization was launched in Beijing. The event was initiated by the Investment and Technology Promotion Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Tencent Group and will provide vocational training courses. Small and micro businesses and other innovative training tools and ways such as virtual reality (VR), social networking, online classroom, smart retailing and other innovative training tools are used to help young people and small and micro enterprises to acquire occupation and employment skills.

The digital classroom breaks through restrictions of space and distance of the traditional vocational skill education with much lower costs,therefore it  benefits more people with high-quality educational resources. Tencent’s digital classroom provides rural users with online skills courses related to employment and entrepreneurship such as agricultural production, industrial design, e-commerce, Internet and construction engineering.

Text source: cnr.cn

●  Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On 1 January, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.