Helvetas and SVEB have been working in Mozambique for two years: as part of the SIM! project, young adults are being trained and trainers are being supported using the GO model. These are the findings so far.
Mozambique is one of the least developed countries in the world. Between 2014 and 2020, the national poverty rate rose from 48 per cent to 63 per cent, and youth unemployment reached 43 per cent in the same period, with young women disproportionately affected.
According to a survey of 545 young people conducted by Helvetas, young adults in training are on average 20 years old; 30 per cent of them already have a child. 77 per cent of them have access to family-owned farmland and 78 per cent prefer self-employment to formal employment.
Furthermore, 78 per cent of them have dropped out of school and 40 per cent have only attended primary school due to economic constraints or the distance to school. In general, the literacy rate among adult women in Mozambique is 45 per cent and among men 73 per cent.
Since 2017, Helvetas has been supporting projects in Mozambique that focus on improving informal apprenticeship training.
Closing educational gaps
The ‘Skills for Youth in Mozambique’ (SIM!) project aims to close educational gaps and redefine the interfaces between basic education and vocational training. By embedding reading, writing and numeracy skills in vocational training, SIM! provides young people and adults with the basic skills they need for a successful working life, thereby promoting inclusion and sustainable community development.
Since its launch in early 2023, the project, which is funded by the Swiss Confederation and implemented by Helvetas, has trained around 3,600 young people, supported by 221 local craftsmen acting as trainers and seven companies committed to the initiative. The training model combines four months of theoretical and practical instruction with a two-month internship that provides direct workplace experience and skills acquisition. In collaboration with five vocational training institutions, the project also improves the technical and pedagogical skills of local trainers, ensuring sustainable skills development.
The project emphasises that learning should take place where it matters most – in real working environments. (In Switzerland, the funding priority ‘Simply better! … at work’ pursues the same approach.) In bricklaying courses, for example, learners practise reading construction plans and calculating materials, while in agricultural training they work on accounting and budgeting tasks. This highlights the benefits of the training, making it more relevant and effective. Modules such as ‘Fundamentals of Geometry for Construction’, ‘Safety and Hygiene in the Workplace’ and ‘Financial Literacy for Entrepreneurs’ enable participants to apply new skills immediately in their daily work.
Basic skills in the workplace
The GO model developed by SVEB helps here: it integrates the teaching of basic skills into the workplace so that employees can strengthen their reading, writing and numeracy skills as well as their digital skills while performing their daily tasks. This workplace-oriented and adaptable approach directly meets the needs of companies and is suitable for firms of all sizes. In Mozambique, it is helping to close critical gaps in functional literacy and numeracy skills that affect productivity and safety.
The model also offers flexible learning pathways tailored to different educational backgrounds, with training often taking place in community-based facilities close to where participants live. Blended methods and digital tools improve accessibility, especially in remote areas.
A key feature of the model is private sector investment in workforce development, with companies supporting workplace learning and benefiting from improved employee retention, efficiency and task performance.
Lessons learned from two years
Two years after the project started, participant evaluations, surveys and feedback from companies have enabled the training to be tailored to learners’ needs.
Key findings:
- Strengthening the pedagogical and technical skills of craft trainers. As local craftspeople play a key role as workplace trainers, investment in their pedagogical and technical training is essential. Beyond improving their own technical skills, they need to develop effective teaching methods to accommodate different learning speeds and backgrounds. Capacity-building workshops, peer learning exchanges and collaboration with vocational training institutions improve their ability to train apprentices effectively. Involving craftspeople and local associations in content development ensures that training materials reflect local economic and professional realities and that what is learned is directly applicable.
- Ensuring infrastructure and materials that support effective learning. Literacy and numeracy courses integrated into the workday require a learning-friendly space with minimal distractions and access to durable training materials. Noise from machinery or a lack of suitable learning areas can impair concentration and engagement. To improve accessibility, illustrations, diagrams and visual aids are used, especially in multilingual environments. Training materials should also be portable, durable and easily adaptable so that they can be used in different workplaces.
- Community-oriented models improve reach and sustainability. Involving local facilitators, craftsmen and community organisations ensures that training courses are accessible, trustworthy and tailored to the needs of rural populations. Facilitators, who are often volunteers, play a crucial role in mobilising participants and promoting group dynamics, making the model sustainable even in resource-poor environments. Their close ties to the community ensure that disadvantaged groups, including internally displaced persons, also have access to educational opportunities.
- Integrated training improves economic outcomes and productivity. Embedding basic skills in vocational education and training has concrete financial benefits for workers and employers. According to PIAAC, workers with better literacy and numeracy skills can earn up to 20 per cent more. Data from the project show that 40 per cent of trainees – especially those with a 10th grade education or below – earned 15 per cent more after completing their training. For companies, upskilling their workforce means greater efficiency, fewer operational errors and stronger employee retention.
- Strengthening basic skills brings lasting benefits to all involved. The programme goes beyond literacy and numeracy and equips workers with important cross-cutting skills, including health and safety, digital competence, financial management and entrepreneurship. These skills are increasingly sought after by employers and improve workers’ adaptability in dynamic labour markets. Strengthening these areas not only benefits individual workers, but also contributes to the resilience and innovative capacity of companies.
- Inclusive training design is essential for different learning profiles. Many learners face economic constraints, gender inequalities and family responsibilities that are often not addressed by the formal education system. To remove these barriers, training takes place in community-based facilities close to where participants live, with local facilitators tailoring the content to different learning needs. The training courses must integrate different learning approaches, including simplified language, visual aids and interactive teaching methods, to ensure that learners with different literacy and numeracy skills can participate effectively.