The youth have been encouraged to acquire technical and vocational skills instead of focusing on hard-to-find white collar jobs.
The Director of Gorgeous Technical Institute (GTI), in Juja Sub-County, Kiambu County, Jackie Waithera further urged young people to identify the courses that are in demand such as fashion and design, electrical work, plumbing, hospitality, hairdressing and beauty, and entrepreneurship.
“These manual labor skills are very marketable because one can quickly get a job or start their own business after completing the courses,” she said noting that gaining technical skills is the key to solving the unemployment problem in the country.
Waithera was speaking during the graduation ceremony for 500 youths who completed a three-month short courses in a programme funded by The George Koimburi Foundation in partnership with GTI and Heroes Technical College.
“White-collar jobs are drastically shrinking and are being taken up by technological advancements. To beat joblessness, we must equip our youths with technical skills,” Waithera said.
She noted that the unemployment crisis has pushed many young people to drug abuse and crime adding: “In the wake of the unemployment crisis, it’s imperative for the youth to get vital skills that will put them at an advantage in the job market.”
Offering right training and funding the youth to establish income generating projects, she noted, can help the government halfway solve the joblessness challenge.
Juja MP George Koimburi said giving young people technical skills to start their own businesses will help keep them away from drugs and substance abuse.
He said the government will soon set up a fully equipped technical training institute in his constituency.
Koimburi also urged the government to increase the education budget to help parents who are struggling financially. “The government should consider increasing education allocation to relieve millions of Kenyans of the burden of facilitating their children’s education,” he stressed.
The three-month short courses, he said, will enable students who failed to get opportunities to advance their studies and start earning after completion.
Graduates, who benefited from the programme, expressed optimism that their lives will turn around as they have gained technical knowhow in various fields.
Eunice Njoki, who trained on hospitality, said she hopes to start her own business and urged the government to make it easy to secure funds through the Youth Fund, Uwezo Fund and the Women Enterprise Fund, to enable them venture into businesses and contribute to the growth of the country’s economy as well as create more job opportunities.
By Norman Kavithi
