By Fatima Muhammad
Unemployment is one of the burdens of our country. Unemployment is particularly common among the youths despite the facts that most of them are graduates of one higher institution or the other. It is assumed that most of them are unemployable. The youths are educated, but are educated to job seekers only and not job creators or employers. It means that they are not trained to make use of their hands, they graduate from higher institutions to become suitable for white collar jobs only. Most of them become frustrated after searching for white collar jobs for several years without success.
Maryam Yusuf, a graduate expressed frustration over the job market.
She stated that “we are told education is the key, but after graduation, many of us are jobless. If I had learned tailoring or catering along side my course, i would have been running my own business by now.
It’s time for Universities to rethink their role, not just to produce job seekers but job creators” Maryam concluded.
Another graduate Karima Mustapha from faculty of allied science expressed her concern by stating that “I have been applying for jobs since years ago, but there are no responses.
I wish we had been taught something useful like soap making, catering or tailoring. Even with a degree, we are stranded”.
Similarly, Emmanuel Chukwu, a final year accounting student added that “White-collar jobs are no longer guaranteed.
I think vocational skills should be taught from 100 level. Imagine a graduate who can also run a profitable barbing salon or manage a digital printing business”.
This situation can be reversed if vocational training can be encouraged in and out of our of our educational institutions. Vocational training is the training received on a particular occupation.
For example, girls can be trained to become hair dressers, photographers, tailoring, catering, fashion designers and so on; while the boys can be trained to be barbers, fashion designers, welding, carpentry, computer repair and other trades.
Training in different vocations is the only way to unemployment as any youth who has undergone such training won’t have to look for somebody to employ him.
He will want to establish himself in the business with the assistance he can get from government and his parents.
Not only the graduated youth are worried, also parents are increasingly worried about their children’s future.
A parent Mrs. Rakiya Ahmad, a mother of two undergraduates said: I spent so much to educate my children, but now I see many graduates at home with no work. If the Universities had taught them a skill they would be making a living already”.
Another parent, Malam Saje Amin a retired teacher added: “we are tired of waiting for jobs that may never come.
Our Universities should stop focusing only on theory. Let our children graduate with both a certificate and a skill”.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO,2022), equipping young people with relevant vocational skills is the key to reducing youth unemployment and improving economic productivity in Nigeria.
This emphasizes the importance of building technical capacity among youths to meet the demands of the labour market.
A self employed youth, due to the vocational training he has received will train and employ other youths.
The rate of unemployment in our society will reduced. There will be less pressure on government that will be able to pay attention to provision of infrastructure that will facilitate creation of jobs.
Vocational training will make it possible for most of our youths to be producers of goods and services which when purchased will make life comfortable for them.
Through the training, products such as air fresheners, soap, detergent, and pomade.
This will make the country to become producers of goods which when improved can be exported to other countries of the world and earn foreign exchange for our country.
Vocational training is the method of reducing unemployment through empowering youths economically by training them to use their hands to create job opportunities themselves and become self-employed.
