Today's youths will become victims of poverty, says Levy

Today's youths will become victims of poverty, says Levy
By Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday November 15, 2007 [04:00]

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa yesterday said today’s youths will become future victims of poverty and parents of vulnerable children if they do not get jobs. Launching the tool-kit-scheme for graduates of technical education programmes at Lusaka Business and Technical College in Lusaka, President Mwanawasa said that his government recognised that youth unemployment was a serious problem and it had a negative impact on Zambia’s prospects for economic development and individual wealth creation.

“My government is aware that youth unemployment does not affect Zambia alone but it is a global phenomenon affecting most nations of the world. Some estimates indicate that about 300 million people in the world are unemployed. This translates to more than 35 per cent of the potential global force being unemployed,” President Mwanawasa said. “In Zambia, it’s estimated that the formal labour force comprises less than 20 per cent of the nation’s total labour force.”

He said his government had created a good investment climate that attract local and foreign investment, which in turn create more jobs for Zambians. President Mwanawasa said the policy on skills development through the Technical, Educational, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) had been re-oriented to make it demand responsive.

“In 2005, my administration introduced a TEVET fund through which government provides resources to technical colleges that bid to produce high quality graduates in priority skill areas identified by government, which include; heavy duty repair, paramedical, civil engineering, instrumentation, mechanical engineering, water engineering, draftsmanship, tourism and travel and agricultural engineering,” President Mwanawasa said.

“However, my administration has noted that skills development does not necessarily lead to formal employment or employment creation. It is possible to have skilled people who cannot find jobs in the formal sector. It is therefore also important to empower those who graduate from skills development programmes by providing support such as toolkits, capital and access to land.”
He said it was for that reason that he directed the ministers of finance and science, technology and vocational training to establish a toolkit scheme for TEVET graduates.

He said the Indian government provided financial support and the toolkit has since arrived in the country and was ready for distribution.
“The toolkit alone may not be sufficient to fully empower the graduates for self-employment. I therefore request relevant institutions to lend their support in accordance with their mandates,” he said.

President Mwanawasa advised the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to help TEVET graduates in small and medium enterprise creation. “It should be possible for councils to give preference to TEVET graduates when selecting suppliers of goods and services such as furniture production, construction of buildings, repair and servicing of transport fleets and others,” said President Mwanawasa.

And science and technology minister Peter Daka explained that the procured toolkit include those for automotive mechanics trade, automotive electrician, filter trade, metal fabrication and welding trade and electrical technician trade, carpentry and joinery, body shop, plumbing, cutting and tailoring, radio and TV repair.

“For the start, the scheme is to benefit only graduates from public training institutions under my ministry. However, in future my ministry intends to cover other skill areas and at the same time extend the graduate loan scheme to graduates from private training institutions,” Daka said. “The toolkit shall be given to TEVET graduates in form of a soft loan and the graduates shall be expected to pay back in a reasonable period of time and at a very low interest rate.”

A beneficiary of the toolkit, Sergeant Mwila Mwitwa said the equipment would help the beneficiaries become entrepreneurs. “It will enhance eradication of street adults, street vendors and unemployment,” said Mwitwa in a vote of thanks. The toolkits were given to several students from various TEVET institutions around the country.