Address youth unemployment

Lazarus Sauti

Unemployment is the most persistent challenge faced by young people in countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

It remains the main concern of youth development not only in the SADC region but also in the world.

The extraordinarily high unemployment rate in the African continent as a whole has also been interpreted as one of the main factors behind the revolutionary activities and recent civil unrest in North Africa and elsewhere in the region.

It is critical to note that the region’s high unemployment rate is caused by a mismatch between educational systems and the skills needed in the labour market. The problem is also caused by the saturated public services and small private sector bases that are unable to employ large number of people.

The education curriculum used in most countries within the region is not meeting the current global business and industrial trends. In fact, the education curriculum has helped scholars to be critical thinkers and renowned speakers, but lacks practical skills and solutions that are ideal for job creation should youths leave school.

Consequently, there is need for action to be taken towards employment creation. There is need to redefine the curriculum to meet the needs of both non-formal and formal employment and to create an environment that is enterprising to allow youths to create employment for themselves and others.

Educated young people should change their mindset towards white collar employment they usually prefer to the blue collar jobs.

Youths should shed off ‘colonial hangover’ since it is forcing them to hold a lesser opinion of and accord lower status to any job other than an office job. This is forcing them to shun vocational education and as a result widening the gap of unemployment.

Since youth development is a collective responsibility, there is need for countries within the SADC region to strengthen partnership for youth development and enhanced entrepreneurship development training.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth Development, Indiginisation and Empowerment Honourable Saviour Kasukuwere urges youths to be organised, come up with resolutions and play a significant role in policy making processes.

Honourable Kasukuwere says, “It is through the crafting of policies that young people can spell out their needs, views and opinions as well as their interests that will best suit them.”

He adds: “In most cases, the youths are left out only to become receivers or implementers of policies they do not identify with. If policies are not for youths then there are against them.”

This means that SADC governments, development partners, youth organisations and decision policy makers should engage youths to participate in crafting policies as they are the majority and the most affected.

Improving the lot of Africa’s millions of unemployed youth requires a conscious effort and commitment – in terms of energy and resources – for any improvement to be registered.

This means a certain percentage of national budgets or GDP should be set aside annually to develop education and ensure that is in sync with our developmental aspirations.

“Youths should be trained in the schools to acquire transferable skills highly meeting the current global economic trends. The schools curricula should be drafted around producing skilled individuals in the technical and vocational field.

“There should be the provision of more training and education to the unemployed. This could help improve computer skills and communication,” asserts Paul Frimpong, an economic policy analyst.

Stakeholders in the youth fraternity should also organise conferences and workshops on youth employment were they deliberate on what has to be done to avert the challenges of youth unemployment in the region. Youths should be encouraged to participate since it is the essence of development.