Data on jobless still on cards

The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has decided to move the deadline of introducing a system that will capture data on the Namibian labour market after problems, especially in regard to funding, occurred.

The process, which was due to start this month with the training of data capturers, has been shifted to July 1, because the Ministry has not yet finalised funding to pay these people.

The main aim of the system is to help the unemployed people find jobs, while employers will have it easy when looking at hiring people, with a database in place to keep tags on the figures.

The Ministry’s Deputy Minister, Alphaüs Muheua, told Namibian Sun that at least N$8 million is required to pay allowances to at least 500 youths from the National Youth Service (NYC) who will be required to go out and capture the data.

He said the NYC has in principle availed the young people for the job, but a final agreement still needs to be reached on the N$8 million that will be paid out to these people.

The NYC is expected to foot the bill, but Muheua said they are also looking at alternative sources for funding, including his ministry.

“We really appreciate the assistance by the NYC and we thank the authorities for availing the young people and committing to this cause. This is a very important project for the country and it must be carried out. We anticipate to start in July now as opposed to this month,” he said.

The youth are expected to collect information for at least the next three years, but before they start their mission, they will undergo extensive training in various Microsoft applications.

Through this system, authorities will also be able to determine names, qualifications and occupations of job-seekers.

It will also look at vacancies in the labour market, while it will identify training opportunities for retrenched workers and jobseekers in the country, Muheua said earlier.

“This system is of such a nature that it will also be able to give us information on specialized skills and qualifications possessed by Namibian citizens and permanent residents,” he said.

Further advantages will be that it will also avail data on specialised skills and qualifications possessed by non-citizens who reside in Namibia. It will also provide statistics on employers in Namibia.

Muheua said the programme has been brought from South Africa. The state-of-the-art computers and data capturing equipment will store and provide information at a fingertip just by typing in a name.

So far, progress has been made in regard to the administration and how the programme will be rolled-out.