BATTLING WITH GRADUATE UNEMPLOYMENT.

One of the major challenges Ghana is still struggling with is the case of unemployment. The high unemployment rate in the country does not make a country to be economically stable. It is a major problem for every government and the government of Ghana must do something about it. There are a lot of citizens who do not show interest in furthering their education to the highest level due to the circumstance of graduate unemployment.
I once had a conversation with a friend who has completed S.H.S on the way forward to his education. According to him, he does not want to waste his time furthering his education and after completion, it will not avail to anything. “I want to be self employed and venture into a business that will create wealth for me”. I agree with him in one way or the other since we all know how the system works nowadays. It looks like not all successive governments are unable to solve the problem to a higher extent. As of 2019, the unemployment rate was about 4.12 percent as compared to 2020 which increased to 4.43 percent.
There are about 10 public universities, 8 technical universities, 7 university-level of the profession, and other institutions that train students for them to get employed every year in Ghana whiles there are fewer jobs created in the country. In 2017, the Institution of Statistics, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana said that only 10 percent of graduates are employed right after their first year of completion. This was revealed by an Education Consultant, Mr. Kofi Asare during the 2017 Master Card Education Annual Learning Summit in Accra. He continued that about 60,000 students graduate from tertiary institutions every year and it can take up to 10 years for the rest to get employed. These analyses show that all graduates cannot be employed every year since there are few jobs available in the country, especially in the formal sector. That is why the number of students who graduate from universities, training colleges, and technical schools exceeds the jobs available in the country, therefore, leaving the majority of the people unemployed.
No graduate wants to venture into the informal sector but with that “white-collar job” attitude. It is the wish of every student to get employed right after tertiary that is working in the formal sector because they see it as a place of generating success in life but it does not work like miracle since the number of people seeking for those fewer perfect jobs is more than the jobs available so at the end of the day, few graduates will be employed.
Again, graduates who are willing to venture into their own business too lack capital. Some want to be self-employed or establish their own business but there is no money to start. So at the end of the day, it take years for graduates to get employed. Even though others wish to be job creators but not job seekers, the resources are not available for them. That is why some graduates are also found trading in marketplaces and hawking on the street. In 2018, one multimedia group under Despite group of companies, UTV on their daily basis of reporting discovered one traffic hawker named Samuel Agbedin who was a university graduate at the University of Cape Coast with a bachelor in science selling toilet tissues. At the end of the day, he got employed at the Potsin T.I. Ahmadiyya at Gomoa Potsin. My question is are we to go for degrees, masters, and other certificates and end us hustling and struggling on the street?
Also, there is nepotism and favoritism at the place of recruitment. Nepotism in the case that, employers tend to favor their close friends or relatives and leave the rest aside. Instead of them employing the competent ones, they will rather ignore them. That is what is going on nowadays and it has become the routine of the day and no one seeks to talk about it even the leaders themselves are into that. That is why the unemployment rate will continue to be a challenge for the government.
We can also look at it in this way, the education system especially at the tertiary level does not help the individuals at all since it is full of theory and less practical. At the end of the day, they will lack experience in the fieldwork. No employer would also wish to employ inexperienced workers. That is why someone will come out as an engineer but cannot even manufacture a car because of the bookish knowledge.

Graduate Unemployment in Ghana may have a strong impact on the economy of Ghana and the people at large. When there is no job for graduates, they tend to engage in social vices such as prostitution, crime issues, robbery, bribery, and corruption. Since no one wants to go hungry and there is no job for the person, whatever means to get money for a living will be planned for. These social vices at the end of the day put the lives of many at risk.
Graduate employment can lead to what we call brain drain. Brain drain has to do with a country their intellectuals and professionals due to inadequate jobs. They will migrate to other countries just to search for a better job that will earn them a good standard of living since their country cannot afford to do that for them. They tend to look for higher salaries and a conducive environment to work in other countries. This will lower the development of the country since young, well-educated and professionals migrate every day to other countries. Their contribution could have done something better for the country. Professionals like doctors, engineers, and teachers.

Another major issue that affects graduate unemployment will be unstable government. Graduates who are not employed then blame the government and rise against the government. They end up demonstrating on daily basis crying before the government for job opportunities and other problems they are facing as citizens. This brings the knowledge that the government is not doing its work to help the youth. Recently, the youth protested against the government on the issue of job creation and how the system has become difficult. These “fix the country movement ” can create tension and menace in the country.
The economy of a country will also depend on the number of graduates being employed. Why am l saying this? This is because whoever gets employed in the country will have to pay taxes which will boost the economy but imagine the case few are employed every year and others find themselves jobs outside the country, how can the government make productive contributions to the economy of the country. So at the end of the day, unemployment will continue to affect the economy of the country.

What Can Be Done?
Looking at the issue of graduate unemployment in Ghana, there are a lot of things that need to be done and look at in this country.
There is the need for what we call pre-employment programs or support. This service provides elements that prepare young people for the world of work. This looks at career guidance and counseling, work-based learning, job search assistance, coaching, and mentoring. The guidance and counseling will help individuals to see and delve into their full potential. It will also help young ones to identify a specific skill that will be more effective when planning for and choosing jobs. In Ghana, the pre-employment support services are not effective especially when it comes to public institutions and academic institutions. Even though the Ghana Education Service (GES) provides guidance and support to students including vocational and technical institutions. There is still much to be done in these institutions.

Again, there is the need for more internship programs for students during their tertiary education. Research has shown that Ashesi University has designed complete pre-employment programs which offer services throughout all their 4 years of college. Their program contains guidance and counseling, internships, coaching, and mentoring. It is said that the university reports successful results with 94 percent of graduates finding jobs after six months of graduation. This model needs to be peep at more comprehensively and try it in public universities.

Also, there is the need for more entrepreneurship training programs in tertiary, vocational, and technical institutions to help curb unemployment issues. Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in job creation since it provides job opportunities for young ones. According to the National Development planning policies and strategies, youth entrepreneurship is an effective tool for economic development. That is why there is a need for the government to focus on entrepreneurship and eradicate the notion that only a “white-collar job” can make a person wealthy. The government needs to provide capital or start-up funds such as grants and interest-free loans to support graduates who would like to start their businesses.
There are also government agencies that promote youth entrepreneurship in Ghana including National Youth Authority (NYA), Youth Employment Agencies(YEA), National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP), National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Vocational and Technical Training Centers (VTTC), and microfinance programs such as the microfinance and Small Loans Centre. These government agencies need to provide advisory services and start-up kits but many of the programs do not support these young graduates therefore, the need for government to address these issues for a better living.
It is now time for us to realize that not all the causes of graduate unemployment can be put on the government. We’ve gotten to a time where we need to come together as a country to help each other. It can’t always be the government’s fault but sometimes our behaviour brings about all these problems. Let’s forget about ” he is my sister, he is my cousin, I don’t like to work at this place” and help the government to solve unemployment issues in the country.

Addo Oforiwaa Abigail
Student Journalist
Ghana Institute Of Journalism (GIJ)