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19% unemployment among 18-30 years age group including graduates
Unemployment is at 19% among youth between 18-30 years, said the Monitoring MP for the Education Ministry and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, Mohan Lal Grero.
He said that this is what the Government has been focused on, as it indicates the country’s growth.
“The reason for unemployability among youth is because we have failed to produce persons who are job ready. We have a large number of Arts graduates with only a very few able to secure jobs, because only a small number of them are required here,” Mr Grero said.
Mr Grero said that, “Out of the 340,000 students who enter schools annually, only 200,000 students are gainfully employed, while the other 140,000 are employed as unskilled labour or unemployed.”
He explained that the reason for this could be the number of students who drop out early. “About 99.6% of students complete their primary education, while only 86% remain till the Ordinary Level exam. There is a 13% dropout from junior secondary level which is Grade 6 to 8,” he said.
Mr. Grero explained that most students drop out of school due to the lack of secondary schools in their localities. He said that, at times, a secondary school is as far as 8 to 10 kilometres away, and children find it difficult to commute that distance, either because of poverty or they are displaced.
“The ample job opportunities available in agricultural areas too, entice children to keep out of school, because this sector is heavily labour oriented. At first, during school holidays, students start working on estates for about Rs 300-400 per day, and when they gradually get older, they lose interest in school work,” he said, adding that, by Grades 8 and 9, the students may drop out of school altogether and are involved full time as unskilled labour.
“The issue here is that, these students cannot grow and will remain the least paid persons,” he said.
He also said that a large number of students who are unemployed are Advanced Level qualified. Students who pass the A/L, but fail to get into a State university, would attempt three to four times till they succeed.
“There are many other avenues these students could follow without waiting for university admission. Sadly, most are unaware of the availability of higher education programmes in our country,” he said.
| The ample job opportunities available in agricultural areas too, entice children to keep out of school, because this sector is heavily labour oriented. At first, during school holidays, students start working on estates for about Rs 300-400 per day, and when they gradually get older, they lose interest in school work |