Some recommendations on Youth unemployment

Opinion May - 08 - 2015 , 08:27

Joblessness among the youth is a very alarming situation that demands concerted efforts to address. It is ticking like a time bomb and might explode with dire consequences in the near future.

Though unemployment is a global phenomenon, it has been fairly managed in other jurisdictions but in Ghana, it is currently the number one challenge the country is facing.

At seminars, lectures, workshops, among others, the youth are charged to venture into entrepreneurship and not wait on a company or the government for employment.

I become very sad anytime educationists and motivational speakers, among others, continue echoing the same thing without reflecting on how an individual can make a headway after years of sitting in classrooms and lecture halls.

It is my firm belief that a second look would be taken at our educational system and how it prepares an individual for the job market.

Education, is always said to be the key, but it seems that in Ghana, the “padlock” that this key must open, is damaged.

Education in Ghana

Education is considered as one of the major tools for eradicating poverty and preventing ignorance among citizens. As a result, many governments across the world devote a lot of resources to that sector.

Indeed, Nelson Mandela rightly pointed out the importance of education when he said, “Education is the most powerful tool that can be used to change the world”.

In today's rapidly changing world, one has to be strategic to keep up with the pace of technological development and the needs of the society in order to be at par with the rest of the society.

Unfortunately, the educational system in Ghana, from primary to tertiary, in my opinion, is in serious crisis. Although, the government is trying to provide quality education in the country, the effort remains blunt.

For instance, in most of the universities, programmes which have little practical relevance to business and technology, the main drivers of development in today’s modern society, are heavily patronised by students.

The overall effect is that a good number of students graduate and seek to work in the business environment but lack the necessary training.

In some instances some of these students did not apply for the courses they were offering and did not have interest in reading but have had to do them since they have no choice if they want to be in a public university.

Education versus Employment

Invariably, a good number of these students complete their university education but are unable to find jobs, leading to the formation of the group known as Unemployed Graduates Association (UGA).

The country’s educational system is having a negative impact on individual schooling because it does not seem to prepare graduates for the job market. For that reason, the lucrative jobs are taken over by expatriates while the rate of unemployment continues to soar.

This has led to many Ghanaian students seeking tertiary education in foreign lands to make themselves relevant on the job market, since employers always complain about relative incompetence of Ghanaian university graduates and their inability to perform on the jobs when they are on internship and national service. The notion is, “they go to school to play instead of learning.”

Maya Angelou, a renowned author, once said: “I believe that every person is born with talent, and can do something if he or she can read and write”.

It now appears that special preference is given to certificates emanating from foreign educational institutions since the assumption is that whatever comes from abroad is of superior quality.

It is possible to store a million facts in one’s mind and still be entirely uneducated. Some people were born knowledgeable but in Ghana one is not given any consideration if one does not have the requisite certificates.

Suggestions

In my view, the best way of ending unemployment is creating opportunities that are relevant to the courses offered in schools.

First, entrepreneurship should be a mandatory programme on the curriculum for all universities, since that would equip students with self-employment skills. Nobody must offer a course in school without knowing what to do after graduation.

Second, the state needs to develop the technical and vocational education training sector and introduce a requirement for students to work in groups to solve complex problems and manage projects on their own.

Finally, annual workshops on education should be organised in the various universities to foster the dissemination of information on research and practice.

There is the need for innovative measures to create jobs to stem the rising tide of unemployment in the country.