No real education: no real jobs

| Monday July 14, 2014 16:00

This country can afford to spend on education and make it work, we can invest in education. Other countries in Africa are poor and they do not have levels of education as horrendous as the public education in this country. The biggest crisis in this country is not jobs, it’s education.

There can be no real jobs without real education.

With over 40 years of independence, that’s enough time, it took Zimbabwe six years to fix their education, it took Kenya approximately ten years, the same with  Zambia and Malawi. So there is no acceptable excuse for this massive failure to emancipate our country. Since the dawn of democracy over 45 years ago.

There are number of basic issues that could have been done that would have gone a long way in improving the situation of our education here. Within a few years of democratic dispensation, we could have ensured that students are offered real education.

So far young people who fail their form 3 & 5 and don’t  qualify to study further and those graduating from tertiary share a common dilemma- FINDING A JOB. In my view, our leaders really failed and continue to fail to address our education problems and unemployment among the youth.

Let there be job creation not slavery. This so called Government and Private sectors’ job creation majors is nothing but an opportunity for labour brokers to “exploit” workers, who have to accept low wages without the hope of job security. Workers are offered employment without guarantee of gaining skills: they do the same job over and over again and learn nothing. The result is recycling of workers.

Our education is the real crisis. Learners’ perceptions need to be readdressed.  All that young people want is to work in a cool office and drive a fancy car, why? because of what they learn from school. But in reality we can’t all work in offices.

Government should make sure that practical alternatives need to be offered to school leavers. Instead of having a stigma that they don’t have certificates, by bring income into their homes they gain self respect. The reintroducing better apprenticeship system. Advancing skills through training and technical colleges need to be taken serious.

Botswana’s manufacturing capacity should be increased through mass industrialisation, which the physical infrastructure should be broadened by engaging workers in jobs that require manual labour.

Slowing down replacement of people with machines, but ultimately productivity and flexible labour legislation be in place to provide long term solutions to unemployment are witnessing worse scenario, with thousands of employable graduates, unemployed. It is so bad now graduates are applying for jobs as cleaners, drivers, office assistants.

The unlucky ones are pounding the streets and pavements, clutching certificates and wearing hopeless faces, as a bleak future beckons menacingly.

 

Email: laonamareko@bemobile.blackberry.com