The United Nations believes that young people should be recognised as critical actors in matters of global importance and any government must place great hope in their power to shape its future.
Indeed it is this principle that the government has moved a step forward to recognise this critical group by coming up with systems and structures that will safeguard their transition to become important members of the society by harnessing youth potential energies and ideas for the development of the nation.
By coming up with the ambitious plan that will guarantee at least 100, 000 new jobs for youth annually, the national internship programme or paid apprenticeships will see all graduates from universities and technical institutes absorbed by government and the private sector for between 12 to 18 months and create 1.3 million jobs annually.
This programme aims is to have an economic growth that has many working-age people with fewer dependents as compared to one that has many dependents and comparatively few working-age people. With Kenya having young people aged 18-35 at about 40 per cent of the population this can be looked at as a demographic dividend that is not automatic, but rather as a window of opportunity.
To realise this dividend, Kenya government has invested in the empowerment, education, and employment of the young people. By starting this apprentice programme, It is believed the initiative will help address youth unemployment and bridge the skills gap.
Many employers have complained that school and university leavers lack the skills they need while students find themselves disappointed and angry when years of often painful investment in and sacrifice for their education leave them without gainful employment.
This programme will thus exploit the huge investments, the government has made in various sectors of the economy to lift the lives of youth by empowering them to take control of their careers and offer the needed skills the employers are looking out for having been tested on job thus reducing the numbers of youth trapped in poverty and offer them opportunities to learn or earn a decent living.
The programme aims at expanding opportunities for the young people in addition to ongoing youth empowerment initiatives. This will end the story of youth being denied jobs on account of lack of experience.
Of course this will raise the question of who will fund the project. Well the government will fund part of the programme directly or through tax breaks and other measures to be implemented in close collaboration with the private sector. This is the breakthrough that the youth want. This transformative internships programme will enable graduates to sharpen their skills as they prepare to enter into direct employment or venture into private business.
“Ajira” eyes to open up a million jobs available to Kenyans online. This initiative has already had 50,000 youth signed up and are currently being trained and made aware of opportunities available to them. Kenya has the fastest Internet speeds in Africa and must exploit it to create jobs to its youth.
It is estimated that about 800,000 youth enter the labour market every year, which is equal to 96 per cent of all jobs created in 2016. Young people are hungry for better options and are claiming their right to a decent living, and they are willing to take risks to do so. With the right investments from the government, these youth can transform the world.
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