Taking stock of youth skills

HOWDY folks! So it was World Youth Skills Day yesterday, an international day established by the United Nations to spotlight employability issues affecting the youths.

The day has particular relevance to Zimbabwe, which is battling the challenge of youth unemployment.

The UN notes that young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continuously exposed to lower quality of jobs, greater labour market inequalities; and longer and more insecure schoolto-work transitions.

It also underscores that education and training are key determinants of success in the labour market.

But in Zimbabwe, it is not just an issue of education, as many young people are highly educated but failing to find employment opportunities due to low demand by the labour market.

Folks, providing youth with decent jobs is in keeping with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDG target 4.4 which calls for a substantial increase in the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills.

Youth represent the majority of the population in the country and they do face a myriad of other challenges, apart from unemployment — ranging from inequality, corruption, poverty, human trafficking, emigration, drug addiction as well as the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

They tend to bear the brunt of all these socioeconomic ills, and that is not sustainable.

Folks, you have always heard that youths are the future of this nation. But when you look at the current state of our youths, what do you see?

We have a big role to play to safeguard a bright future for our youths by creating adequate empowerment and job creation opportunities for them, and work hard to reverse the adverse effects of youth unemployment that are already manifesting everywhere.

But to find the right solutions, we must first understand the problems and barriers to the employability of youth.

If you ask many unemployed youths what their main challenge is, they will tell you, “Handina mari ye start.”

And when you ask them what project they would do if they are to get “start”, most will tell you that, “Ndoda kuita zvekuhodha kuSouth Africa.”

Folks, it is important to capacitate our youths with relevant skills and abilities that can unlock their full potential so that they can optimally contribute to economic growth and development.

If you look into the history of our country, you will realise that every revolution of our country was championed by the youth who were determined to improve their status.

The liberation war was fought and won by the youths.

Youth of today should not be relegated to the side-lines, but should be willing to accept responsibility, before we even start talking about what government should do for them.

One reason highlighted by the UN for youth unemployment is a mismatch between the skills that youths in the economy can offer and the skills demanded of them by employers.

The world body believes that this hampers the transition to equitable and inclusive societies envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

You will also realise that many youths in the country may be degreed but their skills are not linked to what is being produced by the economy.

Most employers are really looking at workers who already know what they are doing and do not have time for training.

The way we look at the school classroom should therefore not be that different from the workplace.

The current situation requires youth who think outside the box and are proactive when it comes to identifying opportunities and taking them up with government.

Instead of blaming Government for not doing anything about your situation, is it not proper to suggest ways in which Government can work with you as teams to do something productive?

Government is a servant of the people, which is why it can be voted into or out of power.

Governments that refuse to listen to noble ideas that can improve the livelihoods of the majority, who are youths, definitely know what they will be risking.

Some of the young people of today also have this twisted mentality that money can be made easily, which is why you sometimes find them in soccer betting shops or gambling on the internet thinking they can make quick buck, when they should be concentrating on better ideas.

By the time they realise that they were chasing illusions, they would have wasted a good number of years and returned back to square one.

But it should also be noted that most young people with academic degrees have been unemployed for a long time, and are now accustomed to a new culture that has corrupted what they have learnt at school.

If you give them a job today, they are not likely to apply what they have learnt in school as their skills have become obsolete.

This is why it is important to provide them with regular refresher courses that sync them with new developments. It is critical for skills to always match with the demands of the day.

Those who are fortunate enough to get jobs after a long time of unemployment might be easily tempted to indulge in corrupt activities, thinking that they should earn money quickly in case they might lose their jobs and return to poverty again.

This is why it is crucial that youths continue to be engaged into community development programmes that keep them morally grounded.

Government should also step up efforts in improving the labour market prospects and quality of work for the youths who are often disadvantaged in the labour market. It is important for policy makers to assign priority to policies for job creation.

Folks, providing jobs in the quantity and quality that we need in the country will require more action. Government should therefore pay particular attention towards concrete policies that support employment and lift aggregate demand, while increasing incomes at the same time.

The issue of land re-distribution to accommodate youth who have agricultural skills also comes to mind.

If you look at the demographics of land ownership in the country, you will see that virtually everyone who owns agricultural land is an elderly person and the youths can only get it through inheritance.

There is need for a deliberate programme targeted at allocating land to youths to empower them.

Happy belated World Youth Skills Day!

Later folks!

Folks, you have always heard that youths are the future of this nation. But when you look at the current state of our youths, what do you see?