Government needs to seriously address the rate of unemployment come 2014

Dec 29, 2013 News

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– After over two decades in power, this is a problem for which they are completely responsible – AFC

Is Guyana seriously heading into the New Year with a crisis on its hands? This is what the political opposition has been asking as they reflect upon the state of unemployment among youths. This issue in particular, is believed by the Opposition to be given little to no attention.

Youth unemployment is a topic that has been highly debated and spoken on extensively by many leaders from both sides of the political spectrum. Even regional bodies have given their take on this earlier this year.
One member of the Opposition even stated that it’s not rocket science. “Almost everybody knows that there are many University graduates chasing too few jobs in Guyana.”
And while most have considered this notion, many of our political leaders, particularly from the Opposition, are of the firm belief that nothing much has been done to truly empower the younger generation, most of which have been  forced for some time to look for the proverbial greener pastures for a job that provides for a good standard of living.
Members of the opposition have expressed how disappointed and bitterly aggrieved they are with the government’s behaviour towards this issue especially since they have often claimed to have the interest of the younger generation at heart.
Particularly speaking to the issue was Mr. Dominic Gaskin, Treasurer of the Alliance For Change (AFC).
He said, “The issue of youth unemployment has indeed been festering for some time now and the root causes have not been addressed. The problem is two-fold. It is the lack of job opportunities for young people as a result of a failure to diversify our economy in a way that would create more jobs capable of accommodating a wider variety of skills and talents and secondly; the failure of our education system to adequately prepare young Guyanese to transition from school or university into a modern workforce. Neither of these phenomena will disappear without the proper implementation of long-term policies designed to involve new generations in the development of Guyana.”
He added, “Unfortunately there is no reliable and current data to accurately inform us on the levels of youth unemployment in Guyana, and on the changes that have taken place over the years. The PPP-C Government which has been in power for over two decades seems unwilling to either utilize or disseminate any statistical information on this problem.

“After over two decades in power, this is a problem for which they are completely responsible.”
The Ministry of Labour recently disclosed that it would not be able to speak on the level of unemployment in Guyana.
Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, also declared that this figure will be known when the Bureau of Statistics completes compiling the data from the 2012 census.
The Minister had also said that persons applying to the University should follow programmes in Information Technology, Mathematics and Natural Sciences as this is where jobs are available.
However, after placing this comment to several students of the University of Guyana, they said that this puts a strain on them to move from studying what  they would love to build a career on and study a course because “that is where the jobs are.”
Randolph Critchlow a student of the University of Guyana said, “I think I can understand the divide where my other peers are concerned. I too was going with that tide. Currently I am studying International Relations at the University because I want to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. But prior to this, I was doing a degree in English and I started teaching because nothing else was coming my way.
“It was never my desire to teach but the job opportunity was there and I took it. After I got trained at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and I started working, the salary discouraged me from even going after a Degree in Education. The teacher’s salary, in comparison to that of the Caribbean is a total disrespect.  I decided that I am just going to stick it out with my trials in my area and pursue my passion. I like diplomacy and that is where I want to be.”
Clinton Duncan who also attends the University is pursuing a career in Law. Even he expressed his fears about the rate of unemployment.

He said, “It is definitely a scare because hundreds of students are graduating every year and not enough jobs are popping up…Persons I know with more qualifications than I have right now can’t find jobs so with this in mind it makes me wonder about my future here in Guyana.
“Most people see it as sensible to become an entrepreneur considering the terrible state of this economy. Private practice may have to be my option after I complete my studies. After spending so much money on your studies it is clear that there is no guarantee in this economy that you can make that back.”
A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU), Joseph Harmon, who is also the Shadow Minister of Public Works and Telecommunications also weighed in on the issue.
Harmon said, “This is an issue that has been with us for some time and it has been rising. Apart from the obvious fact that there are few jobs, there are two sides to the coin which we must address, the ones that have the academic papers but lack the technical skills and the ones that are unemployable (not having the necessary credentials for a job ; unskilled labour).
We seriously need to look at the way we are training our people. Because some are even being trained for jobs that don’t exist. We also need to zero in on the educational system and how it is preparing our youths to be able to fulfill the technically requirements of certain fields such as the extractive mineral sector.”
Solutions
According to Gaskin, the AFC believes that the first steps to addressing the issue would be to get an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem so that both long-term and short-term solutions can be developed and specific areas prioritized.
“This is not a problem that can be fixed in 2014 or in 2015, however, the sooner we begin to implement solutions the sooner we can reap their results.”
Harmon on the other hand says, “We need to stop importing people to do jobs in Guyana and train our own. We need to put a greater focus on our young people. When some of these construction sites are examined, we notice that even for the unskilled labour we have people who have been imported for it. It is simply ridiculous.
“We also need to focus on remedial programmes for those who fall into the category of the unemployable. But the correction of this aspect must first start with our policy makers. They need to include in these contract agreements, some arrangement for our Guyanese people this may not solve the entire issue of unemployment but it would certainly help because something is simply wrong with this matrix.

 

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