Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 373355,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/373355/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "can improve the welfare of the youth. All the programmes are scattered. We had Kazikwa Vijana (KKV), the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and the SMEs. It was only last week when we were discussing the funding of the Youth Council, which was started a year back. This is an indication that we are not taking this matter seriously. When we move around our constituencies we notice a large number of youth along the roads in the evening. This is amazing. They are all idle. They are not employed in any gainful manner. There is early marriage. There is use of alcohol and other drugs. Unless we move fast to address this issue, we are headed for a disaster. We need a comprehensive national plan to address the issue of the youth unemployment. We need to start with education. Even our education curriculum has changed much from the time the colonialists put it in place basically to produce people who were going to seek employment. When you discuss with any youth, be they in primary school, secondary school or university, they tell you, “When I complete my studies I want to get a job.” You do not get a shift of thinking of people who can say, “When I finish my technical training I will be supported to start something of my own?” I think we need to start from the curriculum level. We need to start with the polytechnics. We have put emphasis on polytechnics, but we need to equip them. We need to give the youth training in business and basic financial issues. The issue of apprenticeship, in my view, is to a large extent about exploitation of the youth. During the whole period of apprenticeship they are actually employees who are not paid and at the end of it nothing is guaranteed for them to start something. You see it in terms of internship. Even in big companies youths are called interns. They are actually a labour force without support whatsoever. I support this Motion and recommend strongly to the Mover that he looks at its rewording, so that it caters for the need to come up with a comprehensive plan in order to implement Article 55 of the Constitution on training and employment of youth. We also need to expand SMEs funding. It should be part of that, so that when the youth go for any apprenticeship at the end of it, they should be supported. When they come out of any training they need to access funds. We really need a programme for this. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}