05 Nov
One thing is for sure: the rubber-stamp method to address Ghana’s unemployment crisis has failed numerous times and we can’t anticipate a different outcome if we keep doing the same thing.
Albert Einstein once said we can’t solve our problems using the same kind of thinking that created the problems, we need to think differently.
We need a new strategy that is not just broad, but also viable, effective, solution-oriented, practical, and sustainable.
This begins with young people being trained and trusted to lead and build our nation into the 4th industrial revolution.
Young people have the mental prowess to solve our tough challenges when empowered with the correct financial and educational help”
1. Revise The School Curriculum.
The Educational System globally hasn’t changed that much for over a century, not sure our system can change fast enough to catch up with the rapid change and the growth of the 4th Industrial Revolution, hence unemployment is going to be on a hike in a decade to come, not sure government can fix this with our current educational system unless the government decides to be radical which I don’t believe it’s going to happen.
Alvin Toffler defines 21st-century illiterate as not someone who cannot read and write, but someone who can not Learn, Unlearn and Relearn and per this definition, I can boldly say more than 70% of our youths both students and graduates are still illiterate of the 21st century.
Our Educational System should have the capacity to teach students how to Learn, Unlearn and Relearn with or without supervision if our youths are going to survive in the future awaiting us.
We need the Educational System to “STEAM” Up!
2. Substitute Training for Capacity Building.
This is amazing I agree with the writer however we would need to redefine what kind of Training is and going to be relevant in the next decade, unemployment is an infinite game, it never gets defeated or ends due to the rapid change of technology and the slow pace at which we adapt to change, tracing from the 1st industrial revolution to the 4th industrial revolution.
I believe if we could train youth on four major things, it would not just help address unemployment but it would drive our nation into rapid development and growth.
1. The Human Brain/Mind:
The youth needs to understand the kind of supercomputers they have in their head, the kind of power they possess, and their Limitless potential to achieve all their wildest dreams and become whoever they want to be in this world.
#2. Money:
Financial education or Intelligence is critical for the success of every youth, understanding money, how they are made, wisely managed, and used would go a long way to help the youth, after all, that’s why they are crying for employment.
#3. Spirituality:
Martin Luther King Jr. quoted ‘A man who does not have something for which he is willing to die is not fit to live.’, helping the youths find a higher purpose bigger than themselves, would give them a true sense of purpose, it would give them meaning in Life, they wouldn’t just live but would become a formidable force for national development and match the nation into Greatness and Prosperity.
#4. Technology:
Technology has been a powerful force of change since the 1st industrial revolution and it’s rapidly changing everything today, our Lives, industries, workplaces, and economies. The emergence of new technologies such as the Internet of Things, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, The Metaverse, 5G, Blockchain among others is going to transform our world to Create a Future we haven’t seen before in the history of humanity.
Empowering youths with Skills of The Future would go a long way to not just address unemployment but mold better citizens, youths with a greater purpose to solve today and tomorrow’s problems in any form.
3. Entrepreneurship Funding.
Cash is and always King, I think Government should in their powers keep pumping as much cash as possible into the Entrepreneurial ecosystem, it’s a great gamble Worth taking, one successful Startup could be great enough to employ hundreds of thousands of Youth with sustainable Jobs for decades.
In conclusion, I think this government can’t fix it alone, we all have a crucial role to play in mitigating the hike in unemployment and what’s yet to come.
World Economic Forum report on The Future of Jobs, indicated that there are going to be 85million Job Lost Globally by 2025, these same forces are going to create 97million new jobs which require skills our Youths don’t have.
There’s a Huge Skills Gap and it’s always growing as the days go by.
As Entrepreneurs, it’s our responsibility to solve the hard problems in our societies, a challenge to all entrepreneurs.
Thank you Once again for putting this together.
Noted: you can also send us your opinion on the topic and we will publish it baobab.entrepreneur@gamil.com
Joshua Opoku Agyemang
IoT Network Hub Africa
The President of IoT Network Hub Africa
Source: baobabentrepreneur.com