TIME TO DEFUSE THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT TIME BOMB

What you need to know:

  • It is time policy makers addressed the youth unemployment problem in a systematic way, especially by expanding the SDF.
  • Let us arrest this time bomb of youth unemployment in Tanzania.

Data on youth unemployment in Tanzania is scattered, posing a challenge to conducting a comprehensive analysis. Some data shows that unemployment rate dropped to 13.70 in 2014 from 14.90 in 2006.

For 2022, it stands at 12.65 percent, but the reality on the ground paints a bleak picture. There are many young people on the streets looking for jobs.

Making estimations from the numbers of young people completing various levels of education in the country annually, the numbers stand at around 800,000.

Shocking as it is, the number consists of youth completing Standard Seven, O-Level, A-Level, mid-level colleges and university.

Some continue depending on their parents and guardians for a considerable number of years before they settle into some sort of an income-earning activity.

The fact remains that jobs are hard to come by.

It is for this reason that the government needs to strengthen a programme started by the Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) in collaboration with the World Bank (WB), dubbed the Skills Development Fund (SDF).

Under the project, some youth get the opportunity to learn and upgrade a skill that might empower them to go into self-employment.

Already some 470 youth have benefitted from the programme and some of them learned mobile phone repair and maintenance and now earn a living by applying the trade.

However, this number is just a drop in the ocean compared to the real numbers of youth who are yet to find a reliable pathway to financial independence.

There are many that go into such trades as motorcycle taxi driving, petty trading and farming and livestock keeping, but there are thousands others who end up loitering the streets and because they need cash, are tempted to engage in criminal activities.

It is time policy makers addressed the youth unemployment problem in a systematic way, especially by expanding the SDF.

Let us arrest this time bomb of youth unemployment in Tanzania.



DISTANCE TO SCHOOL MATTERS

Schoolchildren having to trek long distances to and from school is cause for concern. They must wake up early, and return home late.

Even with the availability of alternative means of transport like school and commuter buses, schoolchildren are still not that safe. Accidents and sexual predators are just a tip of the iceberg, and there is more to this than meets the eye.

According to studies, walking long distances to and from school, or spending hours struggling with transport, makes pupils overly tired, and lowers their concentration in class. Furthermore, waking up early and returning home late means insufficient time for revision. This impairs schoolchildren’s academic performance.

Indeed, getting children to school is only part of the education battles. For 10-year-olds, waking up at 4am and getting back home by 6pm at the earliest is an acid test for their educational ambitions.

Parents and guardians should play their role in changing this situation to enable children to enjoy their schooling for quality educational results.