Youth's response to entrepreneurship education and training: a case study of out-of-school youth in Nairobi

Abstract

University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. May 2013. Major: Educational Policy and Administration. Advisor: Frances Vavrus. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 70 pages, appendix A.

Since independence, Kenya has been grappling with high levels of poverty and unemployment, with the youth being the most affected. Thus, it is against this background that governmental and non-governmental interventions to eradicate poverty and unemployment in the country largely target the youth through entrepreneurship education and training programs. Some scholars, however, contend that there has been little research on youth perspectives on the effectiveness of this approach to empower them with work and life skills. This study, therefore, examined how out-of-school youth in Nairobi responded to an NGO's entrepreneurship education and training program. Quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with the youth participating in the NGO's program revealed that despite a few points of variance between the youth and NGO perspectives, the youth's response to the program generally conformed to the goals of the NGO itself.