THE government must take serious steps to address the unemployment issue among the country’s youth.

Youth unemployment must never be allowed to become a serious issue beyond the point where it is unmanageable as this group makes up a huge portion of the country’s citizens.

If this particular group faces a problem, it can affect society and the entire country.

Almost all countries are facing the same problem of having to come up with measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

All over the world, an increasing unemployment rate has been recorded affecting the lives of millions of people.

Even advanced countries like the United States have reported huge unemployment rates of over 40 million people as of July this year.

According to many experts, those below the age of 30 will face many problems due to the pandemic.

This is because unlike people from the older age group, youths do not have strong financial stability as many have just finished their studies and begun their careers.

Some still need to find funds to further their postgraduate studies.

Many also need to earn money to pay back their education loans and support their living expenses.

The government cannot let this particular group of people remain unemployed for a long period as it can give rise to other problems like social issues and the migration of this group to other countries to find jobs.

The migration of our youths can lead to brain drain and will increase our country’s reliance on foreign labour for years to come.

As such, the government must take serious steps to ensure our youths are able to find jobs soon after completing their studies.

The government’s policy on employing foreign workers must change and our youths must be given priority to fill jobs in the country, including in the dirty, difficult and dangerous (3D) working sectors.

A long-term solution is to re-examine our education policy.

Priority should be given to technical, vocational education and training (TVET), instead of theoretical aspects of education.

Skills and TVET have become an important area of education as they can provide more jobs for farmers, technicians, electricians, mechanics, construction workers, computer and information

technology specialists, entrepreneurs, creative talents, cooks, and healthcare workers, just to name a few.

Many employers out there are now looking for workers who have special skills for immediate hire.

Negative perceptions toward this particular area of education must be erased.

Our youths need to be encouraged to join TVET centres or colleges for the sake of their future and the future of our nation.

DR MUZAFFAR SYAH MALLOW

Senior lecturer

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

Source: The Star