Abstract
Context of craft apprenticeship. The education system in Niger has poor internal efficiency, with one of the lowest enrolment rates in Africa. The majority of young people outside the education system learn trades in enterprises in the craft sector, which in Niger has at least 900,000 workers in 206 trades. Craftspersons in Niger are represented by the National Federation of Artisans in Niger (FNAN), which is organized into regional federations of artisans. The National Federation is in charge of selecting enterprises and registering apprentices eligible for training. Training matters themselves are managed by the Chamber of Craft Trades of Niger (CMANI), which contributes to developing curricula, training apprentices in enterprises and at training centres, and organizing advanced training for craftspersons. These craftspersons take on apprentices seeking qualifications to join the labour force. Assuming that all of them have one apprentice, there would be 900,000 apprentices, while the formal vocational and technical training system has fewer than 30,000 students. This would suggest that there are around 30 times as many apprentices in the craft sector as there are students in the formal vocational and technical training system. Traditional apprenticeship is much less formalized in comparison to other countries in the subregion. Indeed, in contrast to Benin and Togo, where trade apprenticeship is an institution that is recognized and valued by the parents of apprentices as a way to prepare for entry into the labour force, traditional apprenticeships in Niger, which involve joining a family workshop or microenterprise, are started and finished by young people in a very haphazard way depending on the opportunities available.