How to tame unemployment monster

State House Investors' Protection Unit chief Col Edith Nakalema speaks during a discussion at Makerere University on November 21, 2024. PHOTO/SLVIA KATUSHABE
What you need to know:
- To bridge the gap, the stakeholders suggested stronger partnerships between education institutions and the private sector.
Government has been urged to establish a scholarship fund for offering vocational training and upskilling university graduates to solve the challenge of unemployment in the country. The national unemployment rate stands at 13 percent, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census (NPHC).
Dr Joseph Muvawala, the executive director of the National Planning Authority (NPA), said Uganda’s graduate unemployment crisis is compounded by persistent skills mismatches between what the education system imparts and what the private sector wants.
“This disconnect is further reflected in the skills-related inadequate employment rate, which is highest among those with education and training, indicating that highly trained individuals are often compelled to take jobs below their qualification,” Dr Muvawala said.
He added: “Things are changing every day, you cannot have an institution which will teach you all the skills that you need. Re-skilling is the way to go.” He was speaking during a discussion on university graduates’ employment and scholarship strategies for Uganda organised by the State House Investors Protection Unit and Makerere University Lung Institute in Kampala last Thursday.
Dr Muvawala further revealed that the education system’s focus on white-collar careers discourages vocational training, further widening the gap in practical and technical skills needed at the workplace.
To bridge the gap, the stakeholders suggested stronger partnerships between education institutions and the private sector to equip youth with skills necessary for job creation and industry competitiveness. The other recommendations include creating job placements for unemployed graduates in all government agencies and the private sector and supporting universities to design and implement industry-focused programmes that go beyond competency to expertise and mastery of trade.
Col Edith Nakalema, the head of the State House Investors Protection Unit, said to solve graduate unemployment, there is a need to consider the seven human dimensions; economics, food, health, environments, individual, community and political security.
Government pledge
“What helps us as a country is we are blessed with great natural resources, we don’t have the challenge of food security, otherwise, we would have seen these unemployed youth on the streets,” she said. She further reiterated the government’s commitment to partner with the private sector to solve graduate unemployment.
Prof Mukadasi Buyinza, the acting deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Makerere University, emphasised the need to trace the available labour force. “We need to do an education sector review to find out what is the available labour force, in which fields are they, and where are the deficits, where are the gaps, such that we now review and train people to fill those gaps where deficits exist,” Prof Buyinza said.
He said if this is not done, universities will continue to produce graduates who lack industry-relevant skills. According to the 2024 Census, 16 percent of the population aged 18-30 years were unemployed during 2024.