In this 21st century, one would wonder why formal education is still regarded a luxury in our part of the globe. You’re lucky if your parents or any relative or Good Samaritan puts you in a school to begin this sometimes difficult journey.
Going through our educational system is indeed a tough struggle, with quite a good number of students dropping out before senior high school. From here, too, the attrition is quite high as there are only few openings at the tertiary level.
After all this“wahala” one may pass through to complete at least tertiary education, the graduate is confronted with the fiercest of battles yet. Getting a job, much more a decent one, is a thing that literally requires fasting and prayers for many graduates.
Sometimes those in authority are quick to proffer solutions to the aggravating issue of unemployment. The last time, I heard a Deputy Minister admonishing graduates to create their own jobs. Sometimes, I wonder why people were put in authority at all.
It is sad enough that as a country we have zero data on unemployment. In fact, we can’t even trace the number of people who secure jobs right after tertiary education.
Many academicians as well as technocrats continue to fault the educational system. accusing it of not preparing graduates for industry. Well, their criticism may be true, but the question is: what then is the fate of those who have begun the journey or are still in the school pipeline?
You know, there’s no “abort” function in our educational system for us to use in aborting all the half-baked graduates who are about to be birthed by our “deformed” educational system. So the earlier we come to this realisation the better.
Ghana must make a conscious effort at providing at least the right environment for people to create their own jobs, that is, if this is the direction the government wants to go. It is public knowledge that previous attempts by government have failed miserably.
The likes of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency or the erstwhile National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have all suffered the same fate. Nobody can really pinpoint to the transformational effect these policies have had in the country.
What this calls for is a rethink of government’s approach to resolving unemployment. I believe government has no business trying to be the major provider of employment. We should use the GYEEDA brouhaha as a cardinal example of our failure.
The private sector offers a more realistic chance at providing sustainable or stable employment. To start with, the government can give tax breaksor other incentives to organisations that generate employment.
In so doing, government would not put its limited resources into paying wages. Whatever revenue government may relinquish in the form of these tax breaks or incentives it stands to recoup through the payment of income taxes.
We can use those incentives to attract foreign companies to come establish their presence here. We need to reduce our dire unemployment situation. Doing that would mean that crime will not be an option for people who have been frustrated because they lack jobs.
Agriculture is also an area where government can promote employment opportunities. It is a cliché that Ghana has vast arable lands and agriculture, which already employs quite a huge number of Ghanaians, still offers a decent chance of taking a lot of people off the streets.
The lack of investment or a clear-cut policy for the agricultural sector has led to the decline in productivity. Indeed, it is no surprise that many farms are being turned into illegal mining fields. It is really a shame.
It is common knowledge that our farmers are all aging and the youth can prove to be the game-changer if we are to salvage our agriculture output. Pushing the youth into agriculture must go beyond lip-service.
Then again, we don’t need government to own these initiatives. Government must be creative about these solutions to boost agriculture.We obviously need to relook at unemployment.
I’m out.
By Richard Annerquaye Abbey
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