High quality apprenticeships are key to addressing youth unemployment

OPINION

Although Uganda has registered impressive economic performance in the last 30 years; there has been the enduring concern about youth unemployment.

Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world. Over 50 Percent of Ugandans are below 15 years of age.

Moreover, between seven hundred thousand to one million young people are entering the job market, each year.

How can we create decent jobs for them, while tackling the skills mismatch between academia and industry?

Before, I offer my prescription, I would like to set the context for our young people, who may not fully appreciate the opportunities, this situation presents to us.

Traditionally, there were six major immunisable, but killer diseases which accounted for over seven million deaths of young Ugandans before 1962.

These were: polio, measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

Before 1986, less than 50% of Ugandan children got immunized because of insecurity and laxity by the governments of the day.

When the NRM government took over power, it rightly appreciated that a healthy society is critical to economic growth and prosperity.

It therefore collaborated with development partners and implemented the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization to immunize infants and women of child bearing age against these killer diseases.

This is a key reason that Uganda has many young people surviving into adulthood.

In addition, in 1997 the NRM government rolled out the Universal Primary Education Scheme.

As a result, enrollment in primary schools more than doubled from 3.1 million children in 1996 to 8.84 million in 2017.

In 2018 alone, UPE schools sat more children for the Primary Leaving Exams (70.9%) out of the 671,923 candidates.

Similarly, in 2007, Uganda was the first country to pilot Universal Secondary Education, which accounted for the enrollment of 460,000 students in secondary school in 2016.

In other words, without the success of the NRM government in immunizing and educating its children, we would not be discussing the issue of youth unemployment.

I now wish to turn to the idea of using high quality apprenticeships to create jobs for these young people.

Apprenticeship is a form of occupational learning which involves both on and off the job training.

Unlike traditional classroom training or internship, it involves a very close relationship between an inexperienced worker and a more experienced employer.

Apprenticeship programmes, worldwide, are recognized for creating jobs for young people, since they create a smooth transition to employment, through exposing the apprentices to the world of work.  

In addition, apprenticeships are associated with increased innovativeness and motivation among young workers.

Indeed, the Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training Strategic Plan 2011-2020, commonly called, Skilling Uganda, recognized the need for apprenticeships, as well as, competence based training in making Ugandan youth employable.

Unfortunately, apprenticeships are still underutilized in Uganda.

What accounts for the low-uptake of apprenticeships among Ugandan employers, yet its benefits are undisputable?

First, employers do not find the concept of apprenticeships attractive due to the limited financing available to support their efforts.

Presently, the burden of apprenticeships is entirely borne by the employer.

Therefore, a cost-sharing arrangement that ensures that businesses are not unnecessarily burdened to train young people, without any form of contribution from the other beneficiaries is needed.

Moreover, these young people often leave and join other businesses once the apprenticeship period is over.

To fill these gaps, a Skills Development Fund, to which Government, businesses and development partners contribute, to subsidize company apprenticeships, should be reconsidered.

In addition, apprenticeships should have the force of the law behind them. In this way, any apprenticeship contract, that binds an apprentice to a company for a limited period, after training would be enforceable.

At the moment, an apprentice can afford to ignore, such a contract, with the knowledge that they cannot be legally pursued by the employer.

Finally, apprenticeships have not been popular with young people, due to the lack of an accreditation mechanism, for the time spent in industry.

This recognition is important, as some young people may wish to upgrade their skills in formal vocational institutions, at a later time.

The success of the Workers' PAS that is being successfully implemented by the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT), can inform the roll out of an effective accreditation mechanism for informal apprenticeships.

However, for this to happen, businesses must also invest in trainers, role models and mentors, who can help bridge the intergenerational skills gap.

Robert Mukiza

The Writer is an international investment expert