News 

Sunday, June 29, 2014 

Uganda gets skills project going

KAMPALA, Uganda - A 100 young people have been trained in various business disciplines useful in the job market through the Youth Apprenticeship Program (YAP).

Lawrence Byensi, the Director Investment Facilitation at the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), said they want to solve the problem of where and how to get working experience without actually having a job. Experience is frequently a prerequisite for the job market.

Free training in basic business administration tools and skills, records keeping for the apprentices shall be provided. After which the apprentices shall be deployed to help micro, small businesses that don’t have formal process for keeping business records. If successful, the pilot trial will be upgraded into a full-scale project but a small fee will be charged.

He said, “The YAP is a pilot programme targeting job seeking graduates and it intends to address the question of where and how without a job a frequent requirement in the job market.”

YAP is an attempt to provide practical solutions to the growing numbers of unemployed young people in Uganda, It is something UIA and Vantage Communication came up with.

These young people are given skills in basic book keeping, business planning and formalization, social media, customer service, among other things.

While recently passing out the 100 at Makerere University Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Byensi cautioned them about not respecting business ethics of the various organisations where they may eventually end up. 

He said YAP comes after having reviewed the shortfalls of ongoing approaches to helping young people who want to get ahead in life.

He said they then thought of a scheme of offering services to help micro, small and medium businesses on a pilot trial to get the necessary job experiences.

“We are concerned with the trend in youth unemployment which is why UIA has taken a lead a role and keen interest in this initiative under UIA’s SMEs and youth programme,” Byensi said.

The programme is expected in the future to be rolled out countrywide and will initially recruit at least 2,000 young people and 1,500 SMEs and cluster the apprentices in service units that can be sourced for various services, depending on the skills and competencies required.

Grace Achire, the Vantage Chief Executive Officer, advised the youth to work on their attitude. “The business community can concur with me that young people have an attitude problem. They join the employment sector today and in one year, they want to be driving and running the whole organization,” she said.

Officials say YAP tries to mitigate youth unemployment problems through combating training the youth and assigning them to business to give them the necessary experience needed by the job markets. 

This is hoped to offer them with the hands-on skills in case they decide to start their own business. 

The programme also seeks to help formalize business records keeping for SMEs who lack capacity to improve their performance.

Today’s leading challenge for the increasing number of job seekers and the young generation in getting employment is reported to be the lack of experience.  The target beneficiaries include businesses like: market vendors, saloons, shops, kiosk, restaurants, saloons and carpentry, metal work.

The youth population in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing rapidly. Nearly one in three people living in the region, or about 297 million, is between the ages of 10 and 24. 

By 2050, that age group is projected to nearly double to about 561 million, according to Population Reference Bureau’s (PRB) The World’s Youth 2013 Data Sheet. PRB is based in Washington DC. 

PRB says young people in sthe region are also becoming better educated. Estimates show that the proportion of 20-to-24-year-olds who complete secondary education will increase from 42% to 59% over the next 20 years.

Consequently, as sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce becomes larger and better educated, there is an overwhelming potential for economic growth and development. Countries must take the opportunity to cultivate the capacity of their youth, a valuable resource for their prosperity.

 However youth unemployment remains a barrier to the region’s development. Some of the highest rates on the continent are in southern Africa, where 51% of young women and 43% of young men are unemployed. 

This large unemployed population indicates lost potential since communities and nations fail to benefit from what the young people could theoretically contribute. 

Also, difficulties finding and sustaining employment detract from a young person’s lifetime productivity and earnings, making it more challenging to escape poverty. 

But the number of available jobs for young people is only part of the problem. While improving, educational systems are still failing to provide a large proportion of youth with the skills they need to secure a living. 

Without the ability to attain basic skills or the specific ones that match the demands of the labor market, many youth are unable to find employment.

Recent reports from UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation have recommended that governments, the private sector, and international donors pursue integrated, comprehensive policies and strategies that create jobs for young people.

This may improve the transition between school and work.

Decision makers also need to listen to the voices of young people and allow opportunities for dialogue. 

Recommendations also include improving the ability to measure the mismatch between what youth know and what employers need. 

By Winnie Mandela, Sunday, June 29th, 2014