In many parts of the world, including Africa and other developing countries, finding a job has become a luxury. Despite graduating from higher educational institutes, many students are finding it difficult to secure jobs in their respective fields. This is also the case in Ethiopia, where hundreds of thousands of students graduate each year but struggle to find work in their chosen professions.
The issue of unemployment among higher education graduates is not unique to Ethiopia, as many other African countries also face the same challenges because of economic and political factors. That is why it is common to see brain drain in most African countries. Despite the fact that they graduated from higher educational institutes several African youth are seen migrating to economically developed nations.
It is obvious that quality education is the great weapon and a guarantee to defeat poverty and secure economic prosperity. Quality education opens the door to jobs, resources, and skills that help a person not only survive, but thrive. This is why access to quality education is a globally-recognized solution to poverty. Education helps to remedy many of the other issues that can keep people, families, and even whole communities vulnerable to the cycle of poverty.
As witnessed in several countries such mass migration is affecting the social and economic functioning of those economically poor nations. Some experts said that educational policies of most African countries are one reason for such problems and preventing the continent from benefiting from the educational sector. As a means to address the problem several African countries are revising their educational policy and prioritizing quality education at the expense of quantity.
Lately, the Ethiopia Policy Study Institute (PSI) in collaboration with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) has conducted a workshop. At the event, papers that focused on investment and education in the labor market in Ethiopia and the impact of harnessing human capital development were discussed.
During the event it was indicated that the Ethiopian government has spent approximately 25% of its GDP on education however, there is still a gap that needs to be filled. The reason for this is that, according to research, educational policy had been mainly focused on quantity rather than quality. Besides this, in several institutions, many employees are seen engaged in activities with minimum educational requirements while they have better educational backgrounds. Scholars noted that work productivity and academic background have key roles in improving efficiency.
According to Jemal Mohamed Adem, researcher at PSI, quality education has a direct impact on the economic performance of the country. Whenever there is quality education that matches with a specific responsibility it increases employee productivity, and improves lifestyles.
On his part, Alekaw Kebede, researcher at PSI’s Macro Sector Institute, indicated in his research entitled “Economy-Wide Impact of Harnessing Human Capital Development in Ethiopia” that harnessing human power for economic activity has a direct impact on the economic performance of the nation. Alekaw also recommended that the government should increase the budget for education and skill training for university graduates and others. According to researchers, mismatches between educational background and employment opportunities have adversely affected occupational specialization, productivity and job satisfaction.
While the government of Ethiopia is considerably increasing investment on education worker productivity in the country has not improved and research indicated. The study also suggested that the need to shift the focus of education investment from quantity to quality, promote skilled-based employment instead of paper-based employment, strengthen coordination between training institutions and industries,
number of graduates.
In the paper entitled “The Economy-Wide Impact of Harnessing Human Capital Development in Ethiopia” research indicated that education expenditure has positive and significant effects on economic growth and sectoral outputs. According to the study, increasing skilled and semi-skilled labor supply to the market has a direct contribution to the GDP, sectoral output, exports, and gross capital formation. The simulation results of the Computable general equilibrium (CGE) model suggest that a 20% increase in skilled and semi-skilled labor supply leads to a real GDP growth rate of 0.84 percentage points higher than the business as usual scenario.
According to scholars, graduates from Technical and Vocational Training institutions are in better condition to secure jobs after graduation. The study indicated that youth with TVET backgrounds have a better chance of securing a job. However, gaps in the TVET sector hinder graduates from competing equally with their university counterparts in the labor market. The study recommends a review of the curriculum to promote holistic TVET training and match it with current technological innovations.
The findings and recommendations from the Ethiopian Policy Study Institute’s workshop shed light on the challenges facing Ethiopia and other African countries in terms of unemployment among higher education graduates. The research highlights the importance of investing in education and skill training to increase productivity and support economic growth.
Researchers indicated that research’s conclusions are based on national labor surveys conducted between 2005 and 2021 by the Ethiopian Statistics Agency, during which time employee wages did not raise despite an increase in educational levels. The workshop shed light on the challenges facing Ethiopia and other African countries regarding unemployment among higher education graduates and the research emphasizes the importance of investing in education and skill training to increase productivity and support economic growth.
BY EYUEL KIFLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 4 AUGUST 2023
