PDM bleeds for jobless graduates
The youth league of the PDM has criticised government for not keeping pace with the changes in the job market.
The Popular Democratic Movement Youth League (PDMYL) has criticised the increasing unemployment among university graduates.
In a media statement this week, PDM youth leader Maximalliant Katjimune blamed the Namibian government's failure to implement innovative graduate-friendly policies and for failing to provide entrepreneurial education.
He also condemned employers' requirement of job experience for entry-level jobs, saying it shuts university graduates out of the job market.
“The government has indeed failed to put in place policies that correlate with our fast advancing 21st century economies. The job market has changed immensely since independence.
“Our job market is changing daily, and we have to equally respond to those changes by having proactive and graduate-friendly policies. It is totally unacceptable that companies always have experience criteria even for entry-level jobs such as clerks or receptionists.
“Furthermore, government and the private sector must make the environment friendlier for fresh graduates by prioritising them for vacancies, especially entry-level vacancies,” he said.
The youth league also urged the government to support black entrepreneurs to allow them to start their own companies instead of looking for jobs they cannot find.
“Most of our graduates are poor, black students who do not have any generational wealth or start-up capital like their white counterparts.
“It is therefore very imperative that the government levels the playing field by providing very low interest loans to our graduates, so that they venture into formal and informal sector businesses, which are imperative for any economy,” said Katjimune.
He also took a swipe at universities, saying they too have failed the Namibian youth by ignoring the statistics on unemployment and insisting to offer redundant courses.
“Universities have blatantly ignored statistics and continue to enrol students en masse. The fields of human resources, accounting, economics, management, law and some courses in the humanities like psychology are grossly redundant and overcrowded in the job market.
“PDMYL is of the opinion that universities should reconsider their enrolment rate in some of this courses, and be must be constantly be in consultation with relevant stakeholders in the job market to stay on the track on what the market demands.”
JEMIMA BEUKES
In a media statement this week, PDM youth leader Maximalliant Katjimune blamed the Namibian government's failure to implement innovative graduate-friendly policies and for failing to provide entrepreneurial education.
He also condemned employers' requirement of job experience for entry-level jobs, saying it shuts university graduates out of the job market.
“The government has indeed failed to put in place policies that correlate with our fast advancing 21st century economies. The job market has changed immensely since independence.
“Our job market is changing daily, and we have to equally respond to those changes by having proactive and graduate-friendly policies. It is totally unacceptable that companies always have experience criteria even for entry-level jobs such as clerks or receptionists.
“Furthermore, government and the private sector must make the environment friendlier for fresh graduates by prioritising them for vacancies, especially entry-level vacancies,” he said.
The youth league also urged the government to support black entrepreneurs to allow them to start their own companies instead of looking for jobs they cannot find.
“Most of our graduates are poor, black students who do not have any generational wealth or start-up capital like their white counterparts.
“It is therefore very imperative that the government levels the playing field by providing very low interest loans to our graduates, so that they venture into formal and informal sector businesses, which are imperative for any economy,” said Katjimune.
He also took a swipe at universities, saying they too have failed the Namibian youth by ignoring the statistics on unemployment and insisting to offer redundant courses.
“Universities have blatantly ignored statistics and continue to enrol students en masse. The fields of human resources, accounting, economics, management, law and some courses in the humanities like psychology are grossly redundant and overcrowded in the job market.
“PDMYL is of the opinion that universities should reconsider their enrolment rate in some of this courses, and be must be constantly be in consultation with relevant stakeholders in the job market to stay on the track on what the market demands.”
JEMIMA BEUKES
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