Nobody can deny the hard fact that education is an extremely important factor for bringing change in the lives of individuals. It has universally been recognized as the most powerful instrument and pre-requisite for gearing up the socio-economic development of a nation. In fact, it can be said that it is a pre-condition for the overall up-lift and welfare of a nation. This is why investment in education is considered to be so vital for human resource development and the enhancement of the quality of manpower. The history of humankind, in general, and that of developed nations of the worked, in particular, is replete with the precedents, which establish the fact that a certain level of literacy in population is an essential pre-requisite for precipitating the process of development in a country.
The segment of society that plays the most active part in the socio-economic development of any country/region consists of the adolescents. It is clear that the composition and characteristics of this most crucial part of population goes a long way in expediting the process of national development and influencing the policy makers and planners in their planning and decision making for the future. In this way, the adolescents act as a sort of a “pressure group” that exerts a far-reaching impact on the process of educational planning as well as on the other developmental activities of the country.
Out-of-school youth are a vulnerable population with complex needs. Many face dim employment prospects and uncertain futures. Out-of-school youth are broadly defined as youth aged 16 to 24 who are not in school and who are unemployed, underemployed, or lacking basic skills. While there is no single system that provides services to out-of-school youth, many systems can play a role in better addressing their needs, including the public education, workforce, human services, juvenile justice, and community- and