Youth get raw deal again

| Wednesday May 8, 2013 00:00

Just like Kenneth Matambo mentioned in the speech, the youth form a major constituency of our population. I listened to the speech anxiously since I had an interest. I have realised that unemployment is a major concern to most youth. I remember the people who graduated from university a long time back and are still unemployed. I think of the masses that are still enrolling in tertiary institutions and I wonder where many of them will go after completing their education.

I quote from the speech where the minister said that despite the constrained budget, we should strive to build a vibrant economy capable of providing the citizenry with a decent quality of life, creating sustainable employment opportunities and eradicating poverty.  He said that a wide range of policies and programmes such as internship, youth development fund, youth enterprise scheme, diamond hub and economic diversification drive have been established to address issues of unemployment and job creation.

After listening to this, I went ahead to read the speech and lost hope. There is absolutely nothing for the youth. When we talk of the youth, we refer to people who fall in the age range of 18-36. The truth is, most of them finish their tertiary education at the age of 23. Yet most job adverts require experience. Some employers demand over 10 years experience, so unless these fresh graduates started working at the age of 13 (which is child labour), they have no hope of landing jobs. There is a saying that age is wisdom, yet not all old people are wise.

Youth unemployment is sometimes blamed on the fact that Batswana rely too much on the government. But not all of us can be independent. We see contracts of people on the verge of retirement being extended. When will the youth get their chance if pensioners are still working in government and the private sector? It is now becoming clear that the government does not trust the youth in certain positions.

The struggling agriculture sector is where the youth are pushed. There are a few programmes that as youth we are normally told to take advantage of. To have a viable agricultural project, one needs a market, irrigation, tools, labour and transport. In a nutshell one must have a tidy sum to set up a viable agricultural project. In Botswana, there are no factories where many of the agricultural produce can be processed. In addition roads that lead to lands are not developed, thereby posing a huge challenge of transport and accessibility. It sounds very embarrassing to expect people who worked hard to earn degrees to switch suddenly to growing food and rearing animals. There is a saying that you can take a horse to a river but cannot force it to drink.

The majority of youth expect jobs in the formal set up, hence they do not enroll with Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA). Otherwise, applications would overwhelm BCA and the likes of University of Botswana and NIIT would be white elephants. Of course there would be a small percentage that would be successful but let us not turn them into the marketing or spokespersons of these failing programmes. It seems that we are not an informed nation as leaders are still too shy to tell the people that they have failed.But what does the government need to do to help us? Firstly the government should consider raising the minimum wage. The P500 base rate is too little to sustain a person in this era of high inflation. Most people pay rent, buy groceries, pay transport and take care of their siblings. This implies that P500 minimum pay is just a way of imposing poverty.

Most youth can be absorbed in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture. This is one of the ministries with the potential to curb unemployment. The problem is that in our country, sports is not taken seriously. People are always asked to volunteer on empty stomachs. Even those doing national duty are earning small allowances of less than P2,000. The government has made it clear that self-reliance is one the pillars of development. After serving the nation, these people are never remembered. The are not even called to officiate at Botswana Games. People's talents are meant to help them raise their standard of living.

The government needs to boost the entertainment industry. If there are soapies and dramas produced locally or by the national broadcasters, then some unemployed can be absorbed. In our country, all soapies and dramas are meant to include HIV/AIDS. The issue is monotonous and hence producers end up with boring programmes.Talented artists are mushrooming everyday but they never survive to produce a second album. This is not because they are not gifted but the income is not enough to carry the project forward. Clubs and festivals should not be regulated stiffly as it is now. Why does the government impose stiffer penalties on the ruled yet the rulers are failing to help them earn a living?