Conundrum Of The Unemployed Youth!
By: Bridget Dundee
NAMIBIA is a country with a massive population of young people and most bear the brunt of unemployment. The Namibia Statistics Agency estimates that about 66 percent of the population is under the age of 30 years compared to only 12 percent of the population being over 50 years of age.
The unemployment rate for young people in Namibia is substantially higher than the national average, indicating that school leavers face challenges in entering the job market. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates that the unemployment rate among different youth segments of the population remains alarmingly high at 56 percent for the age category 15-19 years and 49 percent for the age category 20-24 years.
Despite the yearly increase in the number of children attending school and those completing tertiary education, thousands of young people face bleak employment opportunities. Although the data illustrates that there is a positive relationship between educational attainment and the unemployment rate and that tertiary education reduces the risk of being without a job substantially, 4.7 percent of graduates are unemployed. By implication employment is no longer guaranteed even for persons with a degree of tertiary education.
Youth employment and empowerment are vital for building the human capital that allows young people to avoid poverty and lead better, and possibly have more fulfilling lives. The human capital formed in youth is an important determinant of long term growth that a nation can invest on. The youth bring with them boundless energy, imagination, creativity, ideals, and a limitless vision for their future and the societies in which they live. Youth can be key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation. If not used, they are a wasted resource.
Equally important is the process of consolidating a heterogeneous education to employment system to accelerate youth employment. There needs to be a common understanding between the major stakeholders, namely the employers, education providers and the youth in addressing the systemic shortage of jobs and skills.
A McKinsey report (2012) focusing on graduate unemployment in South Africa, found that fewer than half of employers believe that new graduates are adequately prepared for entry level positions. Education providers however are more optimistic with a predominant amount of them believing that new graduates are ready to work. The same disconnect occurs with regards to education providers. In the same survey, 39 percent of education providers believe the main reason students drop out is that their course of study is too difficult, but only nine percent of youths say this is the case (they are more apt to blame affordability).
Why are the three major stakeholders not seeing the same thing? In large part, this is because they are not engaged with each other. Many employers never communicate with education providers and if they do, it might not be effective. Education providers for the most part, are unable to estimate the job placement rates of their graduates. Of those who can, many of them overestimate this rate compared to the real situation. The youth on the other hand are not better informed. When you ask students why they chose a specific field of study, fewer than half say that when they chose what to study they did not have a good understanding of which disciplines lead to professions with job openings and good wage levels.
Another matter of concern is the lack of hard data in the area of education to employment transition. This lack of data makes it difficult for stakeholders to understand which skills are required for employment, what practices are the most promising in training youth to become productive citizens and employees, and how to identify the programmes that do this best.
Imagine the possibilities if all educational institutions were motivated to systematically gather and disseminate data regarding students after they graduated. Young people would have a clear sense of what they could plausibly expect upon leaving a school or taking up a course of study, while institutions would think more carefully about what to teach and how they connect their students to the job market. We need to fill this knowledge gap.
Sadly, we have not started the debate about institutions and policies to promote a successful transition from school to work in order to prevent long term negative consequences of youth unemployment and idleness, and to enhance individual professional careers, earnings, productivity and social cohesion.
*Disclaimer: Bridget writes in her personal capacity. Her interest is in economic policy and regional integration.