Youth Unemployment by MUSYOKA NGUI
Where do we
go from here?
This
is a graduating season. Many tertiary institutions are churning out graduates
in their thousands. The job market has witnessed unprecedented flooding of
young job seekers. The formal employers have time and again complained that the
trainees are half baked. Today we
examine the dilemma of Kenyan youth. Do they have a future?
While
I was growing up, I was fascinated by the immense hopes and dreams of childhood.
In my class, kids always dreamed of being great. The greatness was defined by
white colour careers such as being a doctor, engineer, lawyer or a banker.
The
teachers never disclosed to the pupils how hard it is to succeed in Kenya. Was
it a too harsh truth to dash the dreams of the kids? A few years later I am hit
by the very same reality my teachers hid from me. That it is not a question of
whether you have education in Kenya. It is a matter of where you can fit. There
are no vacancies, at least for the ordinary folk.
I
take issue with the rote learning called the 8-4-4 system. It is too much
theoretical and idealistic. It pays little attention to practical work. It is
exam oriented and produces cramming machines from the students. The result is
graduates who cannot connect theory with practice. There is a yawning disconnect
between the class and the field.
Our
lecturers complain that we have what I will call high school syndrome. We do
not go beyond the dictated notes and handouts. We don’t research. We are not
excited nor are we curious. Yes we have sharp memories. We duplicate what we
are taught and nothing more.
Sometimes
we feel we are being insulted. Because we are not creative. We are not
innovative. We do not want to work. We do not want to think. And so the joy of being
granted the power to read and do all that appertains to your degree as a newly
graduate is such a painful celebration. Where do you go from the campus? You
will soon realize that there are no jobs.
When
the reality dawns the youth feel frustrated. They do not understand why they
cannot get a job yet they are qualified. They become desperate for any job they
will land. Some get into social ills. The ranks of crime swell with graduates
who risk every day to earn a living albeit the wrong way.
The
disenfranchised youths become apathetic. They don’t care about anything. They
start hating the system. They blame the government, their parents, schools or
even God for their troubles. When depressed they seek refuge in drug abuse to drown
their worries and sorrows. Others get into the world’s oldest profession,
prostitution. If their brains do not sell, they sell their bodies.
But
one irony that strikes me is why the youth are so disadvantaged despite their
immense power? They constitute 70 per cent of the Kenyan population. This is
enough majority to bring any form of social, economic and political change.
In
the last general election some participated in the polling process and were
elected while millions voted. However, there is no tangible change of policy to
reflect a vibrant, dynamic, productive and energetic constituency that is the
youth.
Like
other Kenyans, the youth are embroiled in corruption. Many employment
opportunities are taken up by the wealthy to the chagrin of the poor. It is a
matter of having a tall uncle to push you through the boardroom interview. Hard
work and academic excellence comes distance if they ever get a chance to be
considered. This discourages those who do not have godfathers yet they have
something to offer.
The
youths are narrow -minded. They think only about being employed and not
employing someone. They are not
enterprising enough. The school teaches them to be bosses and to work behind a
table. As a result, they have allergy for blue colour jobs however promising.
They do not want to work in the farm or be juakali artisans. They
despise these careers as dirty and regard them as a reserve for the elderly and
uneducated.
Being
idle exposes these people to be guns for hire. They can be bribed to go and
commit crimes and peddle drugs. That is what being a beggar teaches people to
be: without a choice. They can be abused. During the Post-Election Violence the
youth bore the infamous reputation of being the ones who fought the war, said
the allegations. It was heartbreaking.
The people who should be custodians of life turned out to be the threat to the
very life. In traditional African societies, it is the youth who guarded the
community from attacks but the modern ones attack from within.
These
youths have not exploited the opportunities they have fully. They are an
ignorant lot. For example, they have been reluctant to apply for the government
subsidized loans like the Youth Enterprise Fund and the Uwezo Fund. Do they
want to be spoon fed? They have no initiative. They are like wheelbarrows. They
must be pushed to move.
Of
all the handicaps I have hopelessly observed nothing beats the young people
more than their poor reading culture. A society that does not read is a dead
one. They only read for exams. They do not read for knowledge. They read for
CATs and assignments. They think reading is old fashioned. They want fast and
cool fun. They are OK with watching TV. They are satisfied with being armchair
busy bodies analyzing issues they are not authority in. They just are at home
watching movies and premier league rather than reading a business magazine that
could transform their lives. Of course having fun is good but there is no
better joy than that of reading. Intimate
book lovers know the secrets of the pages and the permanence of the written
word.
In
Kenya, there is a sad joke which goes like if you want to hide something from a
Kenyan, put it in a book. Bookshops were allegedly spared by the looters of
Post Election Violence since they were “useless”.
But
reading has the power of expanding one’s intelligence and perspective in ways
that TV cannot. Writing and storytelling
is the hallmark of human civilization. Any developed society must value its
books and treasures them. A youth who does not read is a failure in life.
Perhaps that is why they cannot even get a job because their grammar is wanting
and their functional literacy is way below their academic level. Good riddance
if they cannot put effort to borrow ideas from books yet they can sit on the
sofa hours on end watching motion pictures. Like they own a TV network! Poor
lazybones.
If
the young people want to emancipate themselves they should stop blaming others
for their woes. They should think outside the box. There are many avenues in
the world. They can go international especially in this era of digital
revolution. New careers are emerging and should be embraced. These include
research, part time jobs as well as unconventional professions such as comedy,
acting, modelling and blogging.
It
never hurt anyone to swallow their pride and accept a low cadre job. Such
humility to start at a low rung of the ladder and climb up lacks in today’s
youth. Unless you have a family business to be a de facto boss, you will have
to be patient.
The
writer is a 3rd year student of Bachelors of Arts Degree in
Communication and Media at Chuka University. He blogs at
musyokangui.blogspot.com
Email
your thoughts to musyokangui02@gmail.com
we got the ideas, lets apply the available resources to better ourselves in future!
ReplyDeleteWell spoken. Thanks for reading
ReplyDelete