NAMIBIA HAS A SEVERE SKILLS DEFICIT

Two labour experts this week painted a startling picture about the state of Namibia’s labour market, saying that most Namibians are unemployable.

The Global Competitiveness Index Report of 2009, said nearly 25 000 youth leave high school every year, but only 8 000 of those would gain formal employment, while a few others would go for further studies.

There are no jobs anymore to give to high school leavers, let alone those graduating from higher education training with qualifications that are not competitive. “Namibia has a severe skills deficit to the point of anorexia, we do not have the skills to sustain let alone grow,”

Both experts said the problem lies with the basic education sector. The total number of employed people in Namibia declined from 401 203 in 1997 to 385 329 in 2004 and further to 331 444 in 2008, according to the Government labour force survey in the subsequent years.

Add the annual figure of high school leavers, this becomes a worrying pattern. They called for political will, as well as for the labour movement to re-evaluate its role.

Article at http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=12344

Please spend time on your knees for this serious problem. Pray that God will intervene. Cry out for wisdom and that the newly appointed Minister of Education Minister for Education Abraham Iyambo (left in the photo) will tackle this serious problem. May God grant him and his team all they need to bring Namibia on the road to prosperity.