The UN General Assembly in November 2014 declared 15 July World Youth Skills Day designed to raise awareness of the importance of developing youth skills. As the world marks this year’s Youth Skills Day, we will like to have some reflections on the female employment condition of our ever-growing youth population.
Skill Acquisition may be defined as a type of learning that enhances a person’s capability to perform a specific task as an expert through constant practice over some time. Continuous learning, repetition, and the practice of a particular task will render the learner skilful in a chosen area. On the other hand, institutional knowledge generally prepares the candidate for facts, concepts, theories, and principles that are taught and learned in specific academic courses, rather than related skills.
The above premise immediately suggests that millions of our youths who may have passed through the academic channel do not necessarily possess the required professional skill to fit into the labour market. In an economy such as ours in Nigeria, where both the public and private sectors have limited job opportunities, seeking to secure a decent job is becoming an elusive herculean adventure for most people.
Youth Skills Day 2020 What to do?
As it has been said above, academic qualification does not necessarily provide you with the required professional skill to enter the labour market. However, education remains a useful tool and an enabler for high-profile professionalism. Students of Law and Medicine, for instance, are still required to undertake further training in order to practice as professionals.
Considering the foregoing, we hereby advise that our youths in the spirit of the UN Declaration should look in the direction of acquiring relevant skills after schooling in the following areas where Demand is still very high.
A – Fashion & Design: There is a huge market in the area of fashion and design. Females who have an enduring passion for sewing skills can excel in this profession where some people are already performing well for themselves.
B – Web Development: It is no longer news that the future business will be more and more Internet-based. Ladies can, therefore, avail themselves of the professional skill to work as Web developers.
C – Digital Photography: Youths can undertake online professional courses in Digital photography relevant to marketing and adverts.
There are such other areas as:
- Organization and Management.
- Negotiation.
- Critical Thinking.
- Teamwork and Delegation.
- Research and Analysis.
- Effective Communication
These skills can be professionally perfected to render you eligible both for hire or self-employment.
In conclusion, our youth must always try to obtain an after school skill to enable them to become either master of their own lives or qualified for employment.
