to earlier years (even if the recent reforms on teachers performance and allocation are
welcome). Notwithstanding important ongoing education policy advancements, like the existence of an Education and Training Sector Transition Plan (PTSEF) for the period 2020-
2022 (Republic of Niger, 2019) focusing the public action on a small number of priorities likely to produce significant transformations for the education system in the near future, the communication and accountability of public education establishments at the local level
faces room for improvement, particularly on their funding uses and fees needs. Electricity is
beneficial for some employment generation through markets, but privatised electricity, together with private water management, imposes costs on poor youth associated with water access and supply problems. Salaried employment is falling, particularly for men, as
a result of falling public sector recruitment in villages. Perceived corruption is reported in the delivery of training for young men in particular, as NGOs favour female employment.
Moreover, the potential of farms as a source of income generation and insurance has been depleted by reductions in size, soil depletion, and what is described as the unaffordable cost of fertilisers and of new farmland.
A common theme is the withdrawal of the state, as noted in Section 2. At this particular historical conjecture – characterised by perceived withdrawal of state support for
education, adult literacy, farming knowledge and support, healthcare and access to capital — youth are in a unique position in terms of economic disempowerment that constrains routes out of poverty. The commitment and engagement of the incoming administration in 2021 could either perpetuate this path or take into consideration a renewed reconciliation with the state investment required in rural and urban areas.
5.2.
Navigating uncertain times: enablers and barriers to youth inclusion
With the withdrawal of the state and rising costs, the question then is: what is the state of youth inclusion in labour markets, and how do training, education, social norms and
migration affect this for youth on different poverty trajectories? Overall, we find a high prevalence of self-employment activities in rural, urban and peri-urban areas of the Tahoua and Zinder regions of Niger, characterised by low security in income flows, gendered
professions and asset-dependent pathways for escaping poverty. The analysis recognised the multiple, intersecting disadvantages limiting youth inclusion.
One challenge involves the costs associated with primary state education, which prevent most from completing primary school and leads to a reliance on Quranic education and family and informal modes of vocational skill transmission. The variable quality of education
available within some educational institutions means that there is a lack of association of greater number of years in education with poverty escapes in the quantitative data. The quantitative data also revealed that amongst the chronic poor, most youth had not
attended formal school despite the growing importance of education. Two main recommendations stem from our analysis. First, the national government should continue
to take steps to decentralise funding and expand investment in teaching quality and
infrastructure. School are already facing different types of crises (climate-related like floods or strong winds, food insecurity, health risks like parasitic disease spreads and the threat of
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