Most African Economies are driven by the Street Work Force who go through apprenticeship training programs. These are mostly individuals who could not afford to access mainstream educational institution or were considered dull and unfit to pursue standard mainstream education. Humanitarian crisis has also forced many children out of mainstream education. Thus, after pursuing unstandardized apprenticeship training, they rarely have opportunities to further or upgrade their knowledge.  This is partly due to lack of specialized institutions that address their needs or lack of entry academic credentials, though they remain the backbone of the technical workforce propelling the informal economy.

Without academic credentials or accreditations and without standard systems to evaluate their skills for proper integration into the formal work force, for those seeking for jobs most remain unemployed or underemployed.

It is also worthy of note that, most technical schools are lacking in the technical practical facilities to prepare students/trainees for the job market, hence many end up with technical certificates, without the necessary practical skills to back up their qualifications and unable to deliver in the job market.

PAIDMI has come to mitigate this challenge by providing apprenticeship graduates or technicians with a formal pathway to upgrading their skills and knowledge base, backed by STEM, management and development science. Thus, providing them a pathway for personal growth from Foundational to Advanced, backed by formal educational credentials. Therefore, addressing the critical bottleneck hindering Africa’s industrialization and development efforts.