Need to Nurture Innovation Culture to Tame Unemployment

The launch of the National Youth Leadership Development program code-named is a significant re-orientation initiative of the unemployed and unemployable graduates in the country. Most importantly, it is heartening to see renewed emphasis of equipping university graduates of all disciplines with essential job and life skills that enhance their employability.

The program which was launched by President Uhuru in September is designed to equip volunteers with their inner compass to guide them through the many opportunities and challenges in life. The ultimate goal is to ensure that graduates enhance their employability skills.

It is imperative to note that Kenya is facing unemployment crises of monumental proportions. Statistics by the East African Universities Council show that graduate unemployment and unemployability situation had reached 51% in Kenya as at 2014. Given that universities release around 100,000 graduates to the employment market annually, it’s alarming that more than half of them are either unemployed or unemployable.

Of great concern however is that some of the authorities in the higher education system are most likely unaware of what befalls their graduates, upon parting ways. But, unknown to these stakeholders, is that the unemployment and unemployability of the graduates, could in the long run come back to haunt them. With time, parents or guardians will no doubt lose interest, in enrolling their children in universities that end up producing unemployable graduates.

The term unemployable is seemingly unclear to some, as most people tend to imagine that unemployment results from shortage of opportunities in the formal employment sector. The truth however is that there are infinite employment opportunities, once people are properly empowered with the right mix of skills, attitudes and knowledge that are applicable in the dynamic and highly competitive markets. Such empowered people will either secure lucrative jobs or create their own, using the available resources.

Many factors contribute to the current state of affairs. For parents particularly, matters of careers of their children are relegated to the back of their minds. Majority only concern themselves with the available careers and employment opportunities based on the grades their children attain. Unfortunately, this outside in approach to career alignment may be inappropriate.

This is so because career building is a process, which starts right from the growth stages and continues all through the schooling process. It is a matter of continually making choices and building on them throughout the learning process.

Graduate unemployment started showing up in the 1980’s, when the government stopped automatic posting of new university graduates. That excludes a few categories, such as doctors and pharmacists, owing to high shortage rate.

Perhaps that explains why most A-scoring students are attracted towards pursuing medicine oriented careers. This is influenced by perceptions to the effect that employment opportunities are largely guaranteed.

Indeed, acquiring degrees is all it took to secure well paying jobs that could last the holders, until retirement at 55, which has now been revised upwards to 60 years. Sadly, many have thereafter been known to experience challenges, especially if their skills had not adequately prepared them towards becoming economically active, past retirement.

Should it therefore not be of concern that graduates of both public and private universities are ending up unemployed and unemployable in the 21st Century, when the opportunities continue becoming unlimited? We will continue dealing with the same challenges, if the entire school system is not aligned with the realities and needs of the job market in the21st Century.

The latter recognize that we are each good or better at something no matter our academic achievements. The challenge therefore should be to align ourselves with both our physical and intellectual abilities, while still in the early stages of the schooling process.

That way, it will be easy to identify the rewarding careers that each student should pursue therefore increasing the chances of leading successful lives after school. Apparently, that is what students should be expected to learn in the life skills discipline, already being taught in secondary schools.

The key idea should be to harness both intellectual and physical talents, thus identifying personalized compasses early in life. This will mean avoiding following the footsteps of those before or benchmarking from each other, without initial personal assessments.

Ideally, it will be a matter of embracing inside out approaches to self discovery that should be followed by identifying requisite opportunities.   That will help in not only boosting employment creation, but also contributing to much needed innovation especially in the entrepreneurship sector.

Ever wondered why Bill Gates, Late Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson amongst others have during our times been great role models in entrepreneurship and innovation? Agreeably, they all discovered their entrepreneurial and innovative spirit early in life, thus becoming top achievers and influencers in a fast changing world.

Naturally, it may be important for people to identify and align their compasses based on their unique natural abilities. Eventually, they will nurture or be endowed with the culture of innovation that is a prerequisite of employment and wealth creation, especially through entrepreneurship.

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