One of Mexico’s biggest challenge is the lack of educational and employment opportunities for the younger generations. We calculate that the country has more than 31 million young people from ages 15-29 (almost one third of the population), of whom more than 20 million have abandoned school without completing high school (grades 10 through 12).
In addition, the country has only been able to offer formal employment to a just a quarter of its youth, but the paradox is that even where there are job opportunities, some positions have not been covered due to shortage of qualified applicants. As in other places, an important link can be found between youth vulnerable groups without enough qualifications and unemployed, and the potential recruitment at early ages of youth gangs and crime-related environments.
Synergos, with the support of the Lodestar Foundation, identified and mapped the leading philanthropic, civil society, government and policy-research initiatives working in high school drop-out prevention and youth employment in Mexico. We convened a meeting among them to define better the problem and different perspectives. This report is the result of the mapping, interviews and first discussion meeting, along with some basic compilation of data and research (See complete report, in Spanish).
The mapping exercise showed that there is a wide common and potential ground for networking and collaboration. We found a shared understanding of the problems and the urgency to solve it, since the number of young people living in these marginal conditions is massive (approximately 10 millions) and if the problem was resolved they could become a high demographic bonus for the country’s development. They are also at a critical age that defines their future, at the same time that it can represent a vulnerable stage that contains risks (drug addictions, teenage pregnancy, and gang involvement) which if are not avoided, can become wider problems for Mexico.
Among the summoned participants for this report we found some differences --which can also be treated as a rich diversity that could strengthen the solutions-- especially around the role of high school; if this should be a training stage for employment, for furthering a university education or the young people to choose and develop other life-skills (responsibility, assertiveness, etc.). Also, some programs work closely and in depth with a small number of youth, while other programs work on a larger scale with specific interventions with limited impacts, such as scholarships, technology equipment, job board, workshops, on-line training, among others.
Through the dialogue process, a shared vision and definition of the problem was reached. High school dropout was identified as a crucial but complex problem, which has to be further understood in order to design improved solutions. The organization of the high school system stands out as a central part of the problem, since it is fragmented and its curricula is of little relevance for both the labor market and for the challenges of adult life. In order to address these problems, a wider paradigm is needed to view youth as a potential for development, as well as the emergence of transversal public policy which offers opportunities, protection and support to the new young generations. It is also central that young people are at the center of these processes, as well as involving other crucial stakeholders such as parents, teachers, the business sector, the education authorities and civil society.
Future challenges are linked to the complex and multifactorial character of the problem, for which it has to be confronted jointly and through various fronts. Short, middle and long term actions should be determined, as well as studying good practices and successful experiences from which to draw lessons.
Even though we identify that there is a growing number of collaborative efforts among two or three different sectors, there still is no wider national network or partnership in which a shared commitment and interests are clearly established and aligned. There is a common perception that for the need of working through partnerships, not just because it allows everyone to use resources in a more efficiently, but also because it will help to complement approaches as well as the strengths of different multi-stakeholders.
See complete report (in Spanish)
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1. Proyección de población de CONAPO para 2014
2. Datos del 2010 de Arceo y Campos, 2011
3. Ciclo escolar 2010-2011, datos de INEE, 2012