From Deficit to Apposite: A Critique of NEET Constructions of Out-of-School Youth in Eswatini (Formerly Swaziland)

The number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is increasing worldwide. In Eswatini, the setting of this study, these numbers are proportionally higher than elsewhere due to high unemployment, low life expectancy and a "youth bulge". The purpose of this article is to present a critique of the neoliberal term "NEET" as a description of out-of-school youth. Based on a narrative study which used focus group discussions and questionnaires to investigate the educational experiences of 55 Emaswati out-of-school youth, the article elaborates four themes that emerged from an analysis of the data: poverty, livelihoods, stigma and social efficacy. It argues that the "NEET" label is reductive of young people's potential and sidelines their contributions to their families, communities and wider society. It proposes the term FILLL (Family involvement, social Insertedness, Learning, Livelihoods, Legacies) as an alternative which better captures young people's agency and situatedness in an African context. This concept may contribute to reimagining the relationship between formal and informal learning and livelihoods, and between Western and African knowledge systems, in Eswatini and other developing countries.