STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- ISEP-Thiès, the nation’s first public tertiary vocational institute, has dramatically improved employment outcomes, with round 90% of graduates coming into the job market since its founding in 2013.
- The institute’s two-year packages are co-designed with {industry} companions and embrace prolonged internships, getting ready college students for careers in key progress sectors reminiscent of renewable vitality, agriculture, and multimedia.
- Supported by the World Financial institution’s financed Tertiary Schooling Governance and Financing for Outcomes Mission, ISEP-Thiès skilled over 7,300 college students in a decade–about half women–with completion charges above 99%.
Vocational training in Senegal as soon as sat quietly within the shadow of conventional universities. At the moment, it is powering the nation’s daring push to battle youth unemployment, stimulate job creation, and drive sustainable progress.
On the Institut Supérieur d’Enseignement Professionnel (ISEP) in Thiès, lecture rooms are buzzing with vitality. In a single studio, Nicole Diedhiou checks sound ranges earlier than greeting her college students. “Good morning, everybody!” she says with a large smile.
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Nicole, a graduate of ISEP-Thiès’s multimedia merchandise administration program, now balances her work as a Sound Technician at Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) with instructing workshops at her alma mater. Her journey–from scholar to skilled to mentor–captures how hands-on studying is remodeling the lives of younger Senegalese.
Constructing a talented era
With greater than half its inhabitants underneath 25, Senegal is betting on youth to energy its future. But as of 2019, solely 3.5% of scholars had been enrolled in short-term skilled or technical packages, making a mismatch between graduates’ expertise and employers’ wants.
That modified in 2013 with the creation of ISEP-Thiès, the nation’s first public tertiary vocational institute. “Our packages are designed to align coaching with the wants of the commercial sector,” explains Dr. Mouhidine Abdoukhadre Sanoko, Deputy Director of ISEP-Thiès. “Since our first graduating class in 2014, round 90% of our graduates have efficiently entered the job market.”
Coaching at ISEP is extremely rewarding. We see how principle connects to actual issues. The technical expertise we’re buying encourage us to contemplate launching a enterprise, probably in tools manufacturing or the renewable vitality sector.
Serigne Modou Mbengue, first-year scholar from the renewable vitality lab
Studying that results in alternative
All over the place on campus, coaching meets alternative. In a single lab, college students wire electrical programs; in one other, they take a look at water high quality samples. In pc rooms, teams cluster round multimedia designs and logistics simulations.
Every program lasts two years and targets progress sectors reminiscent of agriculture, vitality, mining, building, water and sanitation, tourism, commerce, and ICT. Programs are co-designed with personal sector companions, and each scholar completes an prolonged internship.
“Coaching at ISEP is extremely rewarding,” says first-year scholar Serigne Modou Mbengue from the renewable vitality lab. “We see how principle connects to actual issues. The technical expertise we’re buying encourage us to contemplate launching a enterprise, probably in tools manufacturing or the renewable vitality sector.”
For former scholar and now teacher Sokhna Ndiaye, the expertise proved life-changing. “This program uniquely blends theoretical data and sensible expertise,” she says from the Transport and Logistics Division. “We spend a whole lot of time in firms in order that college students see how the sector actually works. When the establishment wanted me, I made a decision to return again. I really feel fulfilled returning to contribute my data to an establishment that helped form my profession.”
From one institute to a nationwide mannequin
What started as a pilot in Thiès has change into a cornerstone of Senegal’s greater training reform. Supported by the World Financial institution’s financed Tertiary Schooling Governance and Financing for Outcomes Mission, ISEP-Thiès skilled over 7,300 college students in a decade–about half women–with completion charges above 99% and almost 90% employment quickly after commencement. Round 15% have launched their very own companies.
These outcomes spurred nationwide growth. 4 new institutes opened in Diamniadio, Richard-Toll, Bignona, and Matam. Then in 2023, the Espoir-Jeunes (“Hope for Youth”) project–a $206.9 million initiative funded by the World Financial institution and partners–scaled the mannequin additional. Eight new ISEPs are underneath building throughout Senegal, and ISEP-Diamniadio’s capability is increasing from 400 to 1,500 college students.
As of Might 2025, 14,913 students–including 7,971 women–were enrolled throughout the community, with 5 ISEPs already accredited whereas others are in progress.
Increasing inclusion and impression
Gender equality stays central to ISEP’s mission. To this point, almost 9,000 ladies have benefited from its packages, with focused outreach encouraging participation in fields like logistics, ICT, and engineering–areas lengthy dominated by males.
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ISEPs additionally monitor outcomes by way of a graduate tracer system, measuring job placement inside six to 12 months after commencement. Outcomes present sturdy employment, rising self-employment, and growing graduate satisfaction. Throughout Senegal, small companies in renewable vitality, agro-processing, logistics, and multimedia manufacturing now depend ISEP alumni as founders–each one including to native job creation and resilience.
A future constructed on confidence
Again in Thiès, the afternoon solar lights up college students leaving the campus, some straights out of workshops discussing already tasks and internship plans. For them, vocational training is now not a fallback–it’s a path ahead.
“ISEP goes to nice lengths to coach its college students nicely,” says Nicole. “Incomes a level there permits you to transfer ahead, to have extra confidence, and to provide of your self.”
By means of graduates like Nicole, ISEP is proving that sensible, industry-driven training can do greater than create jobs–it can energy transformation throughout a complete nation.