Erstellt am: 8. 6. 2012 - 13:51 Uhr

Reality Check Special: The 13%

With global youth unemployment at 13%, and over 20% in Europe, young people are giving up on governments and looking for their own solutions.

In its Global Employment Trends 2012, the International Labour Organization states that youth unemployment around the world now stands at 13%. In Europe, it's even higher.

According to OECD figures, the EU average is just over 22%, and in some countries, such as Spain and Greece, it's over 50%.

Some of this is, of course, due to the economic crisis and no reflection on the young people themselves, but that is cold comfort for a 16 year old school leaver who can't get a job, or the university graduate who is stocking shelves in the supermarket.

The news is full of government policy proposals, expert analysis, and politicians arguing about how to solve the unemployment crisis - but it's all long term and little help to those facing rejection after rejection here and now. Monsieur Hollande's plans for growth may change the picture in 2 or 3 years, but today's unemployed want solutions in 2 or 3 days or weeks.

It's hardly surprising, then, that some young people, and older people, too, are not waiting for the governments to get their acts together, but are getting together are coming up with ideas to tackle the problem themselves.

Dizzee Rascal

Dizzee Rascal is a former Futureversity student

One of these groups is the Futureversity in London. The Futureversity helps young people to discover and develop their own talents, and to gain the skills they need to turn these talents into real world jobs - skills they have often not acquired at school. One of their former students is Dizzee Rascal who attributes part of his early success to the music technology course he took at Futureversity. While not all students will attain his fame and success, Futureversity is proud to say that the vast majority of their students are in paid work within 3 months of leaving.

In Ukraine, on the other hand, it is not so much that the education system is failing children, but more that a great number of children are not in the system at all. A group of teachers and lecturers have come together there to create what they call the "street university", offering free education to young people who have fallen through the net. With classes held in parks and quiet back-streets, attendance levels are close to 100%, and the enthusiasm and motivation this informal education is stimulating in young people is becoming a big hit with employers. Although it doesn't hand out any recognised diplomas, many employers say they would rather take on young people from the street university than from dusty and rigid official institutions.

In this Saturday's Reality Check Special, Riem Higazi explores the world of alternative approaches to solving youth unemployment, from the East End of London, to the streets of Odessa, to the international forum that is bringing alternative thinkers together.