Graduates have been urged to utilize the knowledge and skills they acquire in institutions of higher learning to enhance the country’s workforce instead of emigrating to work abroad.
Zetech University lecturer Prof. Owen Ngumi expressed concern over the high migration of skilled and innovative graduates to foreign countries to hunt for ‘greener pastures’.
Prof. Ngumi, who is also the university’s Dean School of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, said that the exportation of young, skilled and knowledgeable graduates to work in foreign countries is denying the country a workforce that can transform the country’s economy.
He spoke at the sidelines of the University’s Career Fair that provided a platform for students to link up with established entrepreneurs for learning and industrial exposure.
“A lot of our young people want to just go out of the country, they are eager to finish their studies to go looking for jobs in European and the Asian countries. We are encouraging them to be patriotic enough and help build our nation using the expertise they acquire while studying,” the don said.
Prof. Ngumi challenged the youth to tap into the facilitative structures that have been put in place by universities as well as the government to invest in innovations and technologies as a way to tame runaway unemployment and address present day challenges.
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The don averred that young people in the country possess impressive innovative skills that need to be nurtured, scaled up and absorbed in all sectors of the economy.
“The government has provided crucial supportive infrastructure for our innovative youth. We believe that major challenges facing the country like food, unemployment, security and health can be solved through these innovations,” he said.
He at the same time challenged students to be more innovative and tech-savvy to have a competitive edge in the job market, as well as to enable them make meaningful contribution towards the country’s economic growth.
His sentiments were echoed by Sophia Kihanda, an entrepreneur and the General Manager of Paleo Hotels, who challenged learners to be entrepreneurial noting that this will turn them from job seekers to job creators.
“It’s high time our youth change the mindset that they study so that they can be employed. They have been equipped with requisite knowledge and skills that can enable them establish their own income-generating ventures. This way they can create jobs while growing our economy,” she said.
Their sentiments come a time when the Government is focused on exporting skilled labour in other countries in a bid to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
By Kamau Njoroge
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