Rural employment: Targeted measures for young people

Young rural people have a low level of qualification and are generally poorly educated. Nearly one fifth of 15–24-year-olds in rural areas have never had access to school, 66.8% have the basic level, 13.6% the secondary level, and only 2.1% have reached a higher level. In the countryside, girls are still significantly lagging behind in terms of schooling compared to young men. Nearly one quarter of girls aged 15-24 have never entered school compared to 15.1% for young men.
Rural youth, especially the NEETS who have accumulated deficits in terms of education and training and soft skills, require differentiated treatment. Karim El Aynaoui and Aomar Ibourk, researchers from the Policy Center For the New South, talk about targeted interventions to improve youth employability and ease their transition into working life. In this exercise, it is necessary to take into account the specificities of rural areas, the needs in terms of skills at the local level, and the profiling of the population of rural unemployed youth.
“The success of this process of adapting measures to the conditions of young rural people depends on the support and involvement of local actors, of public and private organizations, and civil society”, note the two researchers.
An analysis of the risk factors for becoming Neets (young people Not in Employment, Education, or Training) will make it possible to provide appropriate solutions in order to facilitate the economic and social inclusion of young people in rural areas. According to the results of the National Employment Survey, nearly one third of young people aged 15-24 in 2017 are unemployed and outside the education or vocational training systems at the national level. According to gender, this rate is approximately 3.5 times higher among women than among men.
Until then, several programs have been offered to help young people find work (Anapec, National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills, in particular). Mobile units for improving employability in rural areas have also been set up. But that’s not enough. The results of the survey on youth employment in the province of Taounate showed that the majority (15-29 years old) are not aware of the service offering of Anapec within this province, particularly young people without diplomas.
“The takeaway is to ensure that intermediation services better meet the needs of particular cases, in particular job seekers in rural and remote areas. The best thing is to intervene rather in favor of the groups that are most at risk and to target more numerous and different services”, underline the researchers. Intermediation complements other development policies. It allows an optimal allocation of resources and fluid transitions of the production factors. Intermediation can also ensure the reallocation of workers towards other industries and localities.

Khadija MASMOUDI