Passport to Earning
Free quality, digital education for young people to become ready for the world of work
In today’s rapidly changing world of work, many young people are being left behind due to a lack of access to relevant skills and opportunities. This not only makes it difficult to earn a living but also undermines the potential for social and economic progress. The skills required to navigate a stable livelihood are rapidly evolving due to the emergence of new technologies, and young people must have access to the tools and resources required to adapt and thrive.
By providing multiple avenues for learning, digital platforms offer young people the opportunity to access free content and curricula, enabling them to acquire new skills and connect with job opportunities.
Passport to Earning (P2E) is a digital platform that aims to bridge this gap by providing more routes to skilling and opportunities for young people, especially girls. P2E provides young people aged 15–24 years with free, world-class and job-relevant skills training and positions them for employment opportunities.
These resources on P2E are curated by:
- Employers and companies with expertise in hiring and developing talent
- Government partners who adapt, optimize, certify, and deliver skilling programs fit for the local context and market
- Youth advisers who help refine the offerings as per young people’s needs and aspirations
In its initial three-year phase, the platform aims to skill 10 million young people and help 10,000 young people gain decent employment – targeting at least 50 per cent young women in both cases.
The programme is extending to 15 countries in the Global South, including countries such as Brazil, India, Nigeria but also Bangladesh, Niger, and many more.
In India, Passport to Earning has already certified 1 million youth with digital & financial skills in its first year.
Blended learning approaches, local-language content, and co-development with country partners make P2E a unique solution that adapts to local contexts and achieves wide reach and impact. The training runs on the Microsoft Community Training (MCT) platform, which also supports UNICEF and Microsoft’s Learning Passport. This platform provides digital learning for school-age children who struggle to access mainstream education, a recognition acknowledged in Time Magazine’s list of 100 best inventions of 2021.
Accenture, Dubai Cares, Microsoft and UNICEF have partnered in support of GenU to launch the platform. As a YuWaah (GenU India) innovation, P2E is being piloted in India, in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education. Furthermore, through the Girls’ Education and Skills Partnership (GESP), a girl-centred approach to P2E will be made available for GESP Challenge Fund winners, government schools, and other partners in India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
How it works
P2E provides skills development and certification for employment and entrepreneurship, and connects young people with coaching, mentoring, and apprenticeships.The P2E mission is to maximize impact with young people, focusing on the most disadvantaged, by:
- building government capacity to provide sustainable skilling and employment pathways in the digital economy
- enabling access to a job-relevant skilling platform, state-of-the-art curriculum and certifications, and – ultimately – jobs.
Young people complete their skills development training and then receive certifications and future opportunities, including employment and livelihood opportunities. These are provided through a range of activities with partners based on local employment environment.
As the P2E platform is customizable, it offers opportunities for local ownership and adaptation of content across countries.
P2E was launched at the RewirEd Summit in December 2021