Opinion: Digital skills programmes should publish what learners can do next

Analysis — New training hubs make it easier to find a course. The harder question is what happens after a learner completes one.

Google’s new Skilling Africa hub brings its training programmes together. That kind of consolidation can reduce the search burden, but programme leaders should also make the next step visible: a project to build, an assessment to pass or a practical problem to solve.

Participation figures are useful for understanding reach. They should sit alongside evidence of skill: work samples, retention of knowledge and the ability to complete tasks independently. Where programmes promise employment benefits, follow-up should distinguish people who found work from those who merely completed training.

This need not become an expensive reporting exercise. A small, clearly described follow-up sample is more useful than an unexplained success percentage. Learners deserve to know the time, equipment and prior knowledge a course requires, and what support remains after the final module. The next phase of Africa’s skills push should make those outcomes as easy to find as enrolment links.