Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo has urged employers in the public and private sectors to scrap the work experience requirement for first-time job seekers.
He yesterday said the Kenya’s population is made up of educated, vibrant and visionary youths who are ready to drive the economy to greater heights if only they are presented with job opportunities.
“Where do you expect these graduates with no experience to get experience from if you are not ready to present or create for them job opportunities? Our youths are educated and they should not be discriminated against or denied job opportunities just because they don’t have experience, after all, internships provide them the requisite skills,” he said.
Kabogo said a model should be structured that allows youths to be absorbed and at the same time does not compromise on the professional and technical requirements for various fields.
He said the high rate of unemployment among the youth is a ticking bomb, with frustrated, educated young men and women being lured in to drugs, prostitution and terrorism.
Recent data from the Ministry of Education indicates that of the one million youths entering the job market from universities and colleges every year, only one out of five is likely to get a job in the formal sector.
Youth unemployment in Kenya has risen to 22.2 per cent, significantly higher than in neighboring Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia.
While reading 2018-19 budget, Treasury CS Henry Rotich said that the government will merge the Uwezo, Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and the Women Enterprise Development Fund to form the Biashara Kenya Fund, which will drive enterprise development.
In 2018, South Africa scraped the work experience requirement for first-time job seekers in an effort to reduce unemployment and crime incidences.