Govt roots for life skills devt to combat youth unemployment

The government has mandated all local governments to prioritise the integration of life skills development into their districts’ budgets and annual work plans.

This is to allow them to secure proper funding and facilitate widespread implementation in schools and communities to address the prevalent skills mismatch among youth and students to tackle unemployment.

Mr Chris Magezi, the principal inspector in the Ministry of Local Government, said there is a need to scale up the programme to ensure that learners and youth, both within educational institutions and the broader community, are empowered with essential life skills.

“All districts must prioritise life skills development for our learners and out-of-school youth. As we are in the budgeting process, it is imperative to include this in our budgets and annual work plans. We need to allocate funds and look for other funds from partners,” he said.

Mr Magezi made these statements on Wednesday during a stakeholder meeting on Adolescent Skills Development focusing on children and youth aged 10-24 years. The meeting was in Fort Portal City.

He further suggested that for the programme to succeed, district chief administrative officers and other heads of department should connect it with other government initiatives aimed at skilling youth.

The development coincides with UNICEF’s ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development in providing life skills to learners and youth.

The focus is now on scaling up these efforts and integrating skill packages into existing formal and non-formal education and training structures.

Simultaneously, districts are urged to devise district-based action plans for expanding integrated skilling programmes for adolescents and youth.

Ms Jane Afoyocan, UNICEF’s education specialist, said the programme encompasses life skills, digital skills, and upshift initiatives and is currently being implemented in 390 government-aided primary and secondary schools across seven selected districts in western Uganda.

The districts benefiting from this initiative include Ntungamo, Mubende, Kikuube, Isingiro, Kasese, Kyegegwa, and Kamwenge.

Ms Afoyocan said there is a need to increase the number of participating schools to over 500, given the widespread issue of unskilled youth in the region.

Mr Mondo Kyateka, the Assistant Commissioner for Youth and Children at the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, said integrating skills development across all district local governments will address the challenges of the 21st century effectively.

“If we fail to integrate skills development into district plans, and budgets, the implementation will be ineffective. Districts should allocate budgets to facilitate the relevant authorities in inspecting schools for implementation,” Mr Kyateka said.

He said there is currently jobless economic growth, which has failed to generate the employment opportunities needed by the youth, and unemployment among the youth continues to stand at 16.5 percent.

“We have numerous factories, yet they are not creating jobs due to advanced technology. Many roles that could have been performed by workers are now executed by machines. Therefore, it’s imperative to equip learners and youth with relevant digital skills to enhance their employability,” he said.

He said the Ministry of Gender is in the process of finalising a national employment strategy after the current strategy expired. He added that the new strategy encompasses the establishment of industrial parks, youth skill development initiatives, and the harnessing of talents.