By Deon Schlechter
WINDHOEK – It is clear that young unskilled and uneducated Namibians’ chances of finding work will worsen in the next few years if the economy does not improve drastically.
This warning came from the chairperson of the Agricultural Employers’ Association (AEA), Hellmut Förtsch, when he addressed the 27th annual congress of the AEA this week.
Förtsch said the apprenticeship system proposed years ago by the AEA remains on the agenda of the Namibia Agricultural Labour Forum, as the formalisation of unit standards for training in the different fields of agricultural employment seemed more difficult than expected.
Speaking in Windhoek, Förtsch warned that many children of farm workers drop out of school and lack the minimum academic qualifactions for further tertiary education or training.
“Their chances to enter the labour market are minimal. According to statistics, there are 118 000 unemployed youngsters between the ages of 15 and 19 in Namibia. In the age group 20 to 24 years, the unemployed are about 106 000, while the group between 25 and 19 years is comparatively low at 88 500 unemployed,” he said.
Förtsch noted that some progress occurred in the Namibia Training Authority’s (NTA) Industry Skills Committee where Helmuth Stehn represents the AEA and the Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU).
Elaborating on the the formalisation of unit standards for training in different work fields of the agri-sector, he said the “formal training requires at least a Grade 10 “.
”As positive as this project is, it still does not serve the needs of the youngsters who have only primary schooling,” he added.
The Namibia Labour Force Survey 2013 presented in March this year indicated that the unemployment rate increased by 2.2 percent while 41 percent of the youth remain unemployed.
Statistician General John Steytler attributed the increase in unemployment to a lack of, or low, qualifications.
“The jobs are there, but people are not qualified and the global economy was also a contributory factor to the increase in unemployment,” said Steytler.
The survey shows that in 2012 there were 172 222 unemployed youth, which increased by 10 340 to 294 202 unemployed youth in 2013.