The decision reached at the end of the Sub-Saharan Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network (SASASNET) in Abuja has suggested that skills development must be streamlined under the national skills council.
This was disclosed in a communique released by the Secretary General of SASASNET, Hon. Ousman Sillah and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
The communique suggested an integration pathways that allowed certificate recognition and skills migration across continent and globally.
It said that each member country should harmonise their training, qualification and certification framework and transmit
same to the SASASNET secretariat.
It added that mapping the needs assessment of informal sector skills across the economy in collaboration with national public institutions was the way to go.
The communique reads,”Create an “African Skills Passport” (ASP) that allow legal skills migration within Sub-Saharan Africa.
”SASASNET shall network with the African Union to establish a Continental Skills Qualifications and Certification Board (CSQCB) that meets international best practice.
‘SASASNET shall promote the development of a REGISTER (Data Base) and Labour Market Information System (LMIS) of skilled and certified African youths.
”SASASNET shall promote the skills development and Apprenticeship Policy in the member countries.
”Innovative Funding for Apprenticeship shall be developed by each member country. Relevant Trade unions/associations should be involved as stakeholders in all the processes of Apprenticeship training.
”Each member country shall development its National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) with adequate provisions for the informal sector,” it said.
It also suggested the provision of appropriate legislation for NSQFs as well as the collaboration of SASASNET with World Skills to promote competition and talent hunt amongst African youths, among others.