‘Education key to curbing youth unemployment’

 CHARLES ABAH 

   

 

 

The management of a publishing firm, Pearson Nigeria, has stressed the need for skills acquisition in schools, saying it is the elixir for reducing youth unemployment in the country.

The firm’s Managing Director, Muhtar Bakare, stated this even as he urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to endeavour to check the menace.

Bakare also noted that improving education standards was fundamental to reversing the country’s growing youth unemployment,

Over 11 million young Nigerians are said to be unemployed.

The Pearson boss added, “Nigeria’s unemployment challenges are vast and complex and no one solution will fix the problem. However, the research clearly shows that improving educational standards will be vital in any resolution to this crisis. Around half of those affected by unemployment in Nigeria are not educated beyond primary school level.

“Even in other parts of the world where children have access to the highest standards of education, youth unemployment remains a huge issue (the global number of unemployed youth sits at 300-400 million). So what does this mean for children in Nigeria, where the primary school enrolment rate sits at just 66 per cent and educational attainment rates are low by international standards?”

Bakare also faulted the teaching approach and curricula in the country, noting that its educational system was not offering the youth the best of skills exposure.

He said, “Young Nigerians, despite often being better educated than their parents, face diminished employment prospects. This is not just a result of structural problems in the labour market or a lack of available jobs (although these are no doubt contributing factors).

“What we see is a chronic mismatch between skills and employment opportunities – poor teaching standards and poor curricula have meant the Nigerian education system is not equipping young people with the skills and knowledge valued by employers. We need to rethink traditional education so that our schools, colleges and universities are providing learners with the attributes a modern workforce demands.”

Bakare, who urged stakeholders to support Buhari in checking youth employment, stated that the menace has socio-political implications.

He added, “Providing young people with a sufficient education that adequately prepares them for the workforce is vital to keeping this vast section of our population engaged and productive. Our future prosperity as a nation requires youth unemployment to be addressed urgently, and the best way we can do this is to improve learning standards and skill-based education throughout the country.”

source: PUNCH.