Supporting Youth Digital Upskilling for Economic Inclusion and Advancement
The global workforce is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by rapid technological advancements and shifting economic demands. As the nature of work evolves, digital skills are becoming increasingly essential across all sectors. However, in many economies, traditional learning curricula leave out the most in-demand skills and organizational learning and development resources are inequitably distributed. Youth, women, and others from marginalized communities are particularly at risk due to existing critical skills gaps and lack of access to online learning opportunities that foster self-skilling. In response, IREX conducted a literature review and youth-led research which informed the development of the Digital-ESE curriculum.
The Digital-ESE curriculum is designed to equip youth to become “power learners” in digital upskilling and to maintain a confident and secure digital presence, while doing so. Through character-based scenarios, instructional content, and interactive activities, youth learn to:
- identify opportunities to improve digital skills
- cultivate effective learning environments
- evaluate their learning progress
- navigate online spaces safely and responsibly
- engage in a digital learning community
- parlay digital skill-building efforts to professional growth
Throughout the modules, participants follow the journey of Wanjiku, a fictitious character whose stories are inspired by the lived experiences of the 44 Kenyan youth interviewed.
IREX created a custom generative AI tool to create the Wanjiku persona and produce stories that drew from the authentic circumstances and challenges to learning online that the interviewees described.
Pilot & Case Study
In June 2024, IREX partnered with SOW-Kenya, a local youth-led organization to pilot the Digital-ESE curriculum in Nairobi, Kenya with 14 women aged 18-35. The Digital-ESE Pilot Profile details this implementation experience, including participant feedback and impact related to their workforce journeys.
What’s next?
The Digital-ESE team is incorporating feedback from this first pilot experience and preparing a monitoring and evaluation toolkit and adaptation guide to inform future implementation efforts. We look forward to making this resource open-source and available to other youth-led and youth-serving organizations in Kenya and globally. Stay tuned for more on Wanjiku’s story and our Digital-ESE community!
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