Highly  Increased Youth Unemployment; Endangering future for Ghana

Briefly, I would like to talk about what an unemployment means before proceeding to my point of concern as far as this article is concerned. Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. However, this phenomenon is considered as a national security threat to the economy of Ghana. Alarmingly, Ghana’s unemployment rate stood at 4.70% in 2021, a 0.05% increase from 2020. Ghana’s unemployment rate once again, 4.65% for 2020, a 0.34% increase from 2019.

Critically analyzing the trend so far, one will not be far from the right to say that Ghana has an endangering future if no pragmatic measures are put in place by the current government and the future government of this country. Overwhelmingly, on an annual basis, our tertiary institutions produce a chunk of graduates to add on to the already backlog of graduates who are already not employed in a properly structured job or entity.

Honestly speaking, this is the most worrying and exacerbating situation ever faced by Ghana. In fact, this quagmire does not contribute to productivity, economic growth and economic development as envisioned by successive governments over the years. Statistically, the unemployment rate in Ghana has almost tripled in little more than a decade, according to the country’s latest census.

More than 1.55 million people, or 13.4% of the West African country’s economically active population, are out of work, according to the 2021 population and housing census as reported by the Ghana Statistical Service on its website. Ghana, which doesn’t produce regular data on unemployment, recorded a jobless rate of 5.3% in the last census, in 2010.

Research information website Statistica estimated the proportion of people out of work at 4.5%, the African News Agency said as recently as July. If the minimum age of 15 years is applied, the proportion of people without work is 7.8%, the statistical service said. The proportion of economically active males 15 years and older was 63.5%, compared with 53% for females, according to the report.

Ghana’s population increased to 30.8 million in 2021 from 24.7 million in 2010, according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census report. However, I would like to talk about some of the causes responsible for this phenomenon.

Causes

White-Collar Job Mentality, Orientation & Philosophy

Agreeably,  it is a perception that, after one going through school for so many years, the only option left out for them is to seek and secure a white-collar job at  all cost. However, this phenomenon has ultimately landed most Ghanaian graduates unemployed for good. Disappointedly, most Ghanaian graduates are of the view that the only way to go is to secure for themselves a formal employment in multi-national companies or well-paid or reputed local companies; they end up being disappointed when they fail to be employed as desired and envisioned by them.

Lack of Requisite Skills

Incontrovertibly, lack of the right and requisite skill set is one of the main causes of unemployment in Ghana. In Ghana here, our educational system and curriculum is structured such that, the teaching and learning process is more theoretical than practical. However, the required skill in corporate organizations makes it difficult for employable persons to get employed or hired since such skills are apparently lacking. Interestingly, the skills that are being taught in our educational curriculum are so antiquated and obsolete and that they are no longer in use in vis-à-vis the modern trend of education globally.

Lack of Entrepreneurship Education & Training

This is a situation in which a chunk of our graduates from the various universities are not given entrepreneurial education, orientation and training to be creative enough to create their own business and even employ others into it. In fact, the glaring lack of vocational support, training facilities, and emphasis on the importance of entrepreneurial skills makes it even harder for job seekers to build businesses when they are unable to secure the white-collar jobs.

Suggested Solutions to Mitigate the Situation

Provision of Support for Upcoming Entrepreneurs

As a matter of urgency as well as priority, the government of the day should provide support for the upcoming entrepreneurs who wish and desire to create their businesses. However, this talked about support could be financial, technical, managerial, coaching and training among others. Nevertheless, financially, the government could offer these entrepreneurs some interest-free loans or low-rated interest loans with more flexible repayment plans or models to enable them to successfully run their businesses while repaying the loans under well-monitored and supervised condition.

Industrialization

The government of the day should once again, as a matter of priority and policy, create more industries. Agreeably, there are various opportunities in Ghana that are yet to be harnessed. In fact, the government should capitalize on these available opportunities and create more jobs in the country. It is furthermore, suggested to the government to aggressively pursue his Agenda 1D1F, Planting for Food and Jobs and other industry-driven policies to massively industrialize the entire country so as to create more jobs in the country.

Reviewed Educational Curriculum and System

The current Education system and curriculum should be seriously and holistically reviewed to be at par with internationally accepted standards. However, the education curriculum and system should be intensively and extensively re-engineered, re-structured and re-tuned to conform to the modern trend educational system and curriculum such that it becomes more practical rather than theoretical.

Conclusion

In concluding my article, I would like to re-emphasize the point that, the growing level of unemployment in Ghana in no shred of doubt, breeds myriad social vices and predicaments. In fact, the clear absence of jobs in Ghana has forced many people to go into illegal and unacceptable ways of making money which includes ‘GALAMSEY,’ Armed Robbery, Drug Peddling,  Money Doubling among several others. Unemployment in Ghana has also made it more difficult for the youth to survive and make  meaningful lives. As a result of this phenomenon, Ghana endangers or risks her bright future which is found in the rapidly growing youth.

By Justice Reuben Adusei

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