About 300,000 graduates from the country’s universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions are presently searching for jobs in the formal market, Policy Think-Tank, Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) has revealed.
According to CEPA, the weak economic fundamentals coupled with the current power challenges have worsened the employment situation in the country.
It says the unemployment troubles will not improve anytime soon since existing government policies are unfavorable for job creation, particularly the manufacturing sector which is the engine for job creation.
This year alone, about 64,277 graduates from the various tertiary institutions have been posted to institutions by the National Service Secretariat. Majority of these graduates will later hunt for jobs after completion of their service.
Presently, there are no vacancies in the public sector due to the International Monetary Fund’s bailout programme while the private sector’s capacity to employ has reduced due to the erratic power situation and other economic challenges.
According to Dr Joe Abbey, Executive Director of CEPA, “we need to be able to produce real jobs. The informal sector cannot absorb these graduates…government must lead the course to create jobs for the youth.”
“We need to stop explaining and deal with the issues. There are too many excuses given by the government,” he lamented.
Dr Abbey added that “we should not be interested in the misery Ghana and Africa finds themselves. We should be now interested in looking for solutions.”
In a related development, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has disclosed that there are over 200,000 unemployed graduates presently in Ghana.
Additionally, over 71,000 graduates will this year be pushed onto the job market after completion of their national service and contracts. Dr Charles Ackah of ISSER stated recently that the ability of graduates to get jobs after school has diminished greatly.
He said in the past, unemployment was related to lack of education. It is however regrettable that even those educated cannot find jobs because the business environment is gloomy.
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