Wonderful idea, honourable MP!

BY EDITOR

7th August 2013

Editorial Cartoon

With unemployment among graduates in Tanzania still a daunting challenge, an outspoken politician has announced plans to table a private motion in next meeting of the National Assembly – later this month – addressing the issue.

More specifically, the notion will recommend ways to make it easier and smoother for school leavers and college graduates to land employment but not necessarily salaried jobs.

We wouldn’t want to politicise the issue of unemployment or any others as no one can defend the turning of serious matters of public interest into political agenda items.

The politician in question, a member of parliament often in the news for various reasons, says unemployment among the ranks of the country’s youth and young graduates leaves him immensely uneasy.

Priorities outlined in his motion include demanding that the government conduct a census of all graduates in the country and examine the situation of human resources deployment in government ministries, regions, local governments, parastatals, etc., with a view to being in position to establish the number of vacant positions and how they could be taken up by unemployed graduates and school leavers.
Our humble opinion is that this could be a smart move if there are indeed vacant positions in the public service. This would however call for the keeping of regularly updated figures on the state of both employment and joblessness in the country. It would also be to assume that no such extraneous factors as nepotism and other forms of foul play disrupt the smooth flow of events.

In the motion he has in mind, the MP plans to discuss the tendency so pervasive in both the public and private sectors of dismissing fresh leavers and college graduates as too inexperienced to perform as expected if employed.

We fully subscribe to his stand, sincerely believing that there is every need for those in planning and decision-making positions to look into the issue with a third eye.

It would be a terrible contradiction for us to continue declaring that we are determined to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country and yet keep writing off graduates looking for jobs as unemployable, forgetting that it takes time to acquire experience and nobody begins as an experienced hand.

For, indeed, who can stand up and declare that he or she began life as an employee already a refined practitioner in every sense of the word – be it in politics or in any profession one may think of?

We want even fresh graduates to apply for jobs where one condition is the possession of a whole decade of professional experience, and we think we are being fair and serious!

How dare we expect them to have that experience while the most they boast are short-term practical training stints in partial fulfillment of the demands of their college courses? Why not plan to hire them and pay them even half the correct salary (sounds illegal) as they work for the experience needed?

All other MPs ought to stand by this colleague of theirs in his patriotic pursuits which place a premium on the need to help Tanzania’s “nation of tomorrow” lead rewarding and meaningful lives supported by the resources our country is blessed with. Our support is guaranteed. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN