Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Management

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Browsing Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Management by Author "John Nicholas Opiti"

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    Can Ugandan Youth Unemployment Be Solved by Early Exposure to Technical and Vocational Skill Attainment? A Case Study of “Watoto’s Alumni” Improving Employment Status From 2021–2023
    (Uganda Christian University, 2024) John Nicholas Opiti
    Youth unemployment is a significant challenge in the developing world. The African continent has especially been hit hard. This is partially due to the growing young population, the improved literacy, stability of the economy and political atmosphere in most developing countries in Africa, except for those still struggling with civil war and political unrest. Uganda's youth plight of unemployment is no different from other African countries. According to UBOS (2021), nationally, 60% of the population aged 5-30 years attended school. That means the bigger population of Uganda spends their time in schools and subsequently workplaces. The working-age population is a central concept in labour statistics. The government must take youth unemployment as a serious challenge in social and economic development. Peter Magelah and Barbara in their report to ACODE (Peter Magelah, 2014) stated that youth unemployment in Uganda stands at between 64% and 70%, and about 400,000 youth are released annually into the job market to compete for approximately 9,000 available jobs in public service. The research emphasized studying the early exposure of children to skilling in Technical and Vocational courses and observing if it can be a solution to youth unemployment in Uganda. The studies were done in Watoto Childcare Ministry’s recipients 2021-2023 who have completed studies and are now out of the Childcare’s support. The current beneficiaries of WCCM commonly known as Watoto Alumni are more successful compared to their previous lot. 94% of those who did technical courses are gainfully employed, and those from other academic courses also registered 45% employment improvement compared to 19% of previous Watoto Alumni of 2014-2019. The studies also showed that the Ministry, through its Education Directorate, introduced vocational skilling in 2021 in the Watoto Schools. This is an initiative that children exposed to skilling programs right from primary 5 to Senior 3. The program was keenly tracked using a developed skills index for each child. The children were attached to workplaces and were expected to write reports. Termly report cards are designed to accommodate 30% skills attainment, 20% leadership development, and 50% academic performance. At the end of the day, the report was to measure a child’s performance in all three aspects. At Hope Vocational and Technical Institute (HVTI), an institute owned by Watoto Childcare Ministry, students get attached to continuous apprenticeships with companies in Kampala City and surrounding districts. These students are expected to work 2 days a week and study 3 days in class. The initiative showed tremendous improvement in students’ attitudes toward technical courses and henceforth soft skill development. 94% of the students were retained in their places of apprenticeship, and 30% were booked by employers while still studying. The major reasons for retention according to the Human Resource survey were, flexibility to learn and a positive attitude, the ability to relate to the vision, mission, and values of the organization, and the ability to learn and accept correction. Another finding that was so crucial was the youth’s lack of soft skills. The mismatched skills talked about were more of soft skills than hard skills much as hard skills were also the challenge. Many Human Resource personnel believe that hard skills can be learned as they are working with the organization. Once the employee has a positive attitude and is willing to be corrected by their supervisors. These challenges of Ugandan youths’ unemployment from the research, showed more poor parenthood and Uganda’s education system that emphasizes more academic excellence, with little emphasis on practical and attainment of soft skills. Parents are so busy looking for money and have left their children in the hands of maids and schools. Youth lack family and personal values that they should have developed from home, low attachment to family, and low character that make them manipulative, dishonest, and ungodly. Family principles are not passed on to them. Early exposure of children to skilling helps build some of these gaps with continuous mentorship and guidance. Still, a skilled person with good character is the pride of the community because he/she is fruitful, while a skilled with is character is a community problem. He/she is dangerous.