UNEMPLOYMENT
Over the weekend, I
struck a rather interesting conversation with some young people on my Facebook
chat. These chats started with usual pleasantries and then developed into
inquiries about how Canada is and how a young person could migrate to Canada. Two
of the youths had graduated from University five years ago and had never
secured formal employment.
They felt a deep sense of
dejection – that, their country has let them down. One youth had completed
undergrad and was summing up a masters in Business Administration, a program
that many young people are enlisting. He, too, like the others, had lost any
hope for a job after wrecking up his relative’s pockets for fees and scholastic
support.
These stories are regular
and rampant. Many young people are graduating from colleges and Universities
and have simply no start-up capital to invest, little skills and no proper
supervision to translate classroom knowledge into a resource for earning a
living. At over 83% youth unemployment, we should worry excessively that youth
unemployment is of a major security concern.
Certainly, the government
is aware of this problem and must be worried about it more than anyone else.
However, few aspects of our economy need streamlining. First, we must
continuously challenge the people who design our school curricula to tailor
curriculum development towards the rapidly liberalising economy. Curriculum should
focus on business models, apprenticeships, research, critical thinking, and
innovation. Education system should produce curricula that respond to the
economy by building skills and competent labour force.
Second, the tradition of
graduates hoping to get employment with government or established business
needs challenging right from the classroom. With high degree of sectarianism in
government, coupled with a slow private sector expansion, the economy is unable
to absorb the extra-labour produced annually. Government, on its side, is now
behaving like an ethnic enclave where favouritism and tribalism pervades every
department. Job opportunities with government are no longer on merit. Somehow,
one must have a Godfather or Matriarch to access employment. Blotted
bureaucracy, corruption, and ineptitude also stifle the flow and absorption of
funds at local governments.
Third, and most
important, is for the government to enlighten the population about the
operationalisation of the economy. Government today is chocking with an
extremely high cost of public administration. The cost of politics and
sustaining politicians have diverted critical funding from youth entrepreneurial
development and development of infrastructure such as resource centres,
recreation centres and centres for social innovations where youths could
channel their ideas, energies and synergies.
Fourth, we have to
analyse the culture of investment, attitudes towards private venturing, and
co-operatives. Young people need mentoring into saving, investing,
partnerships, loan servicing, and translation of knowledge. Youths have the
energy and ability to learn fast, given the advent of technology that offers
them unfettered opportunity to make good of their time and energy to earn a
living. Government should strive to make computer skills and internet access,
universal and a fundamental right of every youth.
Another challenge we have
in Uganda now is the crisis of trust. I recall a young man I met in Ntinda in
2010 who recorded a music album. He was hopeful that his product would generate
for him some money. However, he insisted that releasing his album without the
videos for each song would be suicidal because he feared that established
artists would plagiarise his songs. At that time, he estimated that the cost
for a good music video for a beginner was between UGShs1- 2million. This youngster
failed to secure the money for the videos. He never surfaced in the industry as
a star of his dream.
The intellectual property
rights and small innovation fund are crucial for young people to become relevant
producers in the economy instead of consuming alien cultural garbage for
entertainment. There must be guarantees and safeguards that innovations are encouraged,
valued, and protected in this economy. When we leave our youths without
guidance and nurturance, we breed insecurity. The apathy among young people
now, towards the establishment, is a time bomb about to explode.
End.
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