By Clive Mutame Siachiyako
Global estimates are that
75 million of the world’s young people are unemployed. About 150 million of that
number is underemployed. This does not only represent a huge loss of productive
capacity (as people in the prime of life are turned into dependents); but it is
also a potential source of social disruption and a daily source of individual
angst. Similarly, industry complains that it cannot get hold of the right
people. More than a third of employers worldwide had trouble filling jobs (Economist.com).
Skills shortages are pressing the Zambian industry as well.
Being a landlocked country, Zambia
sits on many opportunities and risks. Among the risks is the skills insecurity.
Bordered by 8 countries, Zambia is a fertile ground for skilled persons to come
and apply themselves with their skills; make money and send the money back home
[capital flight]. Capital flight is depriving the country capital for reinvestment
and increased income levels. A number of factors contribute to Zambia’s skills insecurity.
Among them is inadequate investment in technical and vocational and education
and training (TVET). Much of the attention has been on basic education, general
education and university education. According to the economist.com findings, many
governments are pouring money into universities, and universities are competing
in singing their own praises. As a result, parents and their offspring have
shunned vocational schools. Many students chose to go to academic schools, yet
vocational schools give them more chance of finding work.
Meanwhile, many of the economic
activities in Zambia [and globally] are driven by artisans, technicians and
technologists. They are hands-on persons. Their training focus less on
theoretical abstracts. Countries that have aptly invested in TVET has remained
strong and viable in value addition, productivity and efficiency. For example,
Germany investment in TVET has seen the country making huge strides in
grassroots economic progress among citizens. South Korea borrowed the Germany
model and under the Meister School Model.
Poor perception of TVET coupled
with lack of career pride has pushed Zambians off TVET. They go for white
collar training where they will work in offices and wear suits. They do not
want to get dirty to generate income. They want others to do it. And that
“others” are foreigners. The foreigners come and grab even jobs that could be
done by Zambians. They mint gold and the gold is sent back to improve their
home country economies. For example, Zimbabwean skilled persons in construction
do much of the quality work in construction and the proceeds of the work go to
run the Zimbabwean economy. Zambians have remained yearning for white collar
jobs that are in short supply or nonexistent at all.
Obsoleteness of equipment and
lapses in curriculum have played a role in TVET falling standards. Technology
has improved by many strides, yet the investment in TVET equipment has remained
sluggish. The sluggishness has affected the quality of TVET and its value to
the economic progress in the country. Industry-training weak collaborations
affect curriculum relevance to the industry. Much of the curriculum is
overtaken by industry requirements. The result is skills mismatch and gaps when
learners get into the industry. The industry lose time in retraining the
graduates for them to be useful to the labour market. Skills mismatch has
resulted into close 200 million persons globally to be jobless (https://www.un.org/).
Zambian industry has equally complained of graduates not meeting expectations.
Some argue that “it takes 2 years for us to retrain them for them to be of
value to our operations”. This entails that what the training sector is doing
in not in tandem with labour market needs. The two sectors are operating in
different universes each doing what they think works. This poor
industry-training collaboration has had a toil on improving TVET.
Curriculum lapses and obsolete
equipment make persons churned out of the TVET sector to be irrelevant to the
industry. The industry cannot find right skilled persons it needs. Yet training
institutions are churning out graduates in big numbers annually. Some
industries have been pushed into forming their own training wings to ensure apt
training in imparted on the learners. Their loss of confidence in the training
sector is also weakening the need for quality collaborative actions in
improving the TVET sector. The Zambian industry equally has its lapses. It is
generally weak compared to 8 neighbours and peripheral countries like South Africa. The collaboration between training and industry get a raw deal with the infancy of the industry. As a result, the training sector does
not get the required input in curriculum development and reviews for the
betterment of the TVET sector and Zambia’s skills base. In some instances,
industry representative are not appropriate. For example, for a curriculum in
Heavy Equipment Repair (HER), a human resources person represents the industry.
Although the person may be from industry, their technical knowhow limitation
negates to the core of industry-training collaboration. The weakness of the
Zambian industry makes Zambia skills risky horizon for foreigners to jobs and
work that should be done by local people.
Risks arising from skills lapses:
Import
of labour: One of the risks is import of labour.
Many foreign investors bring skilled persons from their countries to meet the
skills gap on the Zambian market. The problem at times is not about lack of
skilled persons, but ill-skilled persons either because they were trained on
old equipment or used inadequate curriculum. The world has progressed and
without Zambia investing in modernising curriculum and training equipment,
foreign investors will import labour to get a Return on Investment. Investors
are not holidayers. They get into a country to make money. They need skilled
persons to get things moving to get a return on investment. Thus, even if
Zambia want to create jobs for citizens from foreign direct investment (FDI),
without supplying appropriately skilled persons, investors will pay little or
no attention to job creation goals without skilled persons to drive the investment
mission. Foreigners will come and get jobs even in folk lifting if Zambians do
not have appropriately skilled persons.
Capital
flight: When investors come with skilled
persons outside Zambia, capital is flown back to home countries by those
skilled persons actualizing the investment. For example, when government says
“20% of each contract goes to Zambians,” but without aptly skilled Zambians to
match the investor’s investment actualizing speed that will not happen. Zambians
will be relegated to trading and shouting “boma
ilanganepo” [government should look into this and that]. A National Council
for Construction (NCC) and Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis & Research
(ZIPAR) research in 2017 showed that firms involved in specialised activities
faced difficulties in finding workers with skills profiles that matched job
requirements. The mismatch between skills and job requirements was perceived to
increase the employment of foreigners even in low-skill jobs in Zambia. The
Survey stated that “the construction sector is plagued with a great need for
training either due to significant skills and job requirement gaps or service
delivery standards in the market were rising”. The Survey further highlighted
the need for employee training in formal and on-the-job technical skills the
construction industry because the gap between skills acquired in learning
institutions and the nature of jobs available in the labour market was growing.
It also showed that “the
training environment limits graduates to walk in and make a contribution
without retraining. When industry assesses competences, it is looking at a
graduate being able to demonstrate to us that she/he understands and are able
to operate certain equipment to a large scale.” In short, Zambia is faced with a
crisis in skills, disadvantaging local people in getting jobs in sectors like
construction; “resulting into 80-90% invested money in the sector (by
government) being taken by foreign contractors.
There's need to retain the money government is investing in state-of-the-art
infrastructure (schools, roads and stadia) development for sustainable economic
growth.”The mismatch between skills and job requirements was perceived to
increase the employment of foreigners even in low-skill jobs in Zambia. The
companies with contracts in the sector thus sold their contracts to foreigners
for commission. They settle for peanuts yet the construction sector is the
money spinner that Zambian contractors can benefit in remaining viable in
business for a long time. Contract vending has make Zambian contractors weak
and opens spaces for foreigners to do construction works and money sent to
their homeland.
Crowding
labour market by foreigners: Investors do not come to Zambia
for sightseeing. They come make money on their investment. If they do not find
the right persons to work with for them to realise a return on their capital
[which they could have borrowed somewhere], they will look outside Zambia to
find the right persons to drive their investment. Foreigners whom in their
countries jobs are in limited availability will take up opportunities and crowd
the labour market. Foreigners from different countries will be populate the
Zambian labour force whilst Zambians stand on the fence watching in
unemployment and poverty. It makes the Zambians vulnerable and they settle for
casual work in areas of the economy where investors inject their money. The
situation weakens Zambia’s economic situation due to non-participation of
Zambians in different economic sectors.
Loss
of businesses: Businesses thrive, inter alia,
due to having apt persons to drive their goal. Without skilled persons, it
becomes difficult to satisfy customer needs. Shortage of skilled persons
[besides general labour], limits businesses growth and sustenance. But with
skills risks, Zambian businesses loss business opportunities for a) failure to
meet customer expectations b) poor material utilisation c) efficiency, d) lack
of skilled persons and other factors. The business environment currently
requires skilled persons who can competitively meet needs of customers,
efficiently utilise resources [time, raw materials and human capital],
innovatively add value to products/services, and other requisites that make a
business more competitive. Generally, TVET cannot only support the
socio-economic welfare of individuals, but it can also increase international
competitiveness. Countries with adequate and quality skilled persons are more
competitive in attracting investment as they have suitable human capital for
investors to realise a return on their investment. The absence of skilled
persons negates business opportunities that a country may be endowed with.
Dependency
on government: Government cannot provide
everything to citizens. Economic diversification requires many citizens to
apply their skills in different economic activities. TVET embed
entrepreneurship education and training (EET) in it. It seeks to trigger the
entrepreneurial genie in learners for them to undertake entrepreneurial activities.
Without skilled and entrepreneurial citizens, dependency on government
increases. People will look to government on almost everything. Citizens take a
back seat and waiting for manna to fall from government. That has never
happened anywhere. Citizens must apply themselves in the economy.
Possible
solutions
Investment in TVET is key. The
investment should involve workshops, equipment, tools, human capital [lecturers
in these institutions], infrastructure and other systems that make TVET efficiency.
Investment in TVET is costly. It is different from theoretical based training
like in teaching commercial subjects. Modern equipment costs good money.
Sustainable funding of TVET is paramount. With apt investment of the Skills
Development Fund government introduced, that can be smoothly achieved. Most of
the TVET institutions can be become incubators of businesses and supply
industry relevant skilled persons.
Career pride and perception of
TVET graduates is cardinal. When industry appreciates and have positive
perception of the skilled persons in TVET, the confidence of the graduates from
the TVET sector will be raised. They will proudly and confidently present
themselves to the industry. The industry mostly despise craftsmen and artisans.
It erodes their confidence and worse pay them lowly. It deprives them of the
income they need to remain viable. When they are appreciated and remunerated
adequately, TVET graduates will have more value to the industry. No one wants
to be looked down on, it eats into the morale fabric.
Quality industry-training
collaboration inputs into the relevance and responsiveness of the curriculum
used in TVET. When collaboration between industry and the training sector is
loose, the quality of skilled persons gets affected. The curriculum will not
meet industry requirements. The training sector will keep on doing what it
feels is appropriate. The industry will be complaining about not having right
skilled persons to help them meet their deliverables. Skills gaps and
mismatches will emerge and will be difficult to meet without industry and the
training sector working collaboratively in curriculum development. Curriculum
is a valuable tool in training. It defines what should be taught, what should
be assessed and how it will be assessed. It is pertinent that it is responsive
and relevant to the modern labour market requirements.
Benchmarking with likeminded
countries advanced in some skills areas. There are countries with workable TVET
models. Germany and South Korean are some examples. They have admirable TVET
systems under the Meister Programme. Strong industry collaboration with
training institutions have paid for well for those countries. Samsung partners
with KRIVET in investing and finding strategies to improve TVET. Countries with
viable models can be studied and contextualized to the Zambian situation.
Reinventing the will may be belabouring on the obvious. We can learn from each
other and see what works for us and what does not for the betterment of
enhanced skilled persons in the country.
Conclusion
Currently the picture is bad.
Chinese investors bring Chinese skilled persons. Zimbabweans are carrying out
most of the construction works in Zambia.
Tanzanians are tiling houses and other buildings. And residents of other neighbouring
countries taking their part. They have the skills and right attitude to get
things moving. Zambians mostly lack apt skills and mindset towards work. The
pursuance of white collar jobs is ruining Zambians. It is making most citizens
crybabies. Skills rule the world. There is no country that developed without
skilled persons. Ground Zero for example was built by artisans and
technologists. They were the ones who laid each brick, each metal and other
wares to get things in place. Zambians cannot afford to folding their arms
waiting for “boma to do something”, it is too risky to behave in such a manner
because the “train does not wait for a smoker”. The country will remain behind
and loss out on its economic targets.
Preparing and training youths
for the 21st century industry requires combined inputs of government, the
industry and private sector. Government needs to put in place appropriate
policy frameworks and implementation systems for relevant vocational training.
Policy frameworks; (i) define funding strategies for vocational training and
implementation strategies are made, (ii) training pathways designed and modes
of implementing them devised (to increase access to vocational training), and
(iii) industry interaction (for hands-on experience to learners) spelled out
and modes of carrying them out well defined, as well as other initiatives to
ensure that vocational graduates are properly nurtured for the modern labour
market.
In addition, the industry needs
to create a haven for nurturing vocational training in different sectors of the
economy. The industry detects skills needs as soon as they arise, thus can signal
them to the trainers and help learners acquire such competences through
industrial attachments and other industry interaction modes strategically made
to bridge skills lapses in most young graduates.
The industry can also devise
funding strategies towards sectoral skills.
Each sector needs certain skills to increase its productivity. Each
industry needs a certain quantum of human capital to achieve projected growth
targets. Training right numbers of skilled, energetic and relevant personnel
for each industry is a costly undertaking. Shared input in training such a pool
of human capital is indispensable. Training the right clusters of skilled
youths with the right calibre requires government, sectoral and industry input
for attainment of collective goals (of having empowered youths –government
goals; and having relevant, innovative and dedicated personnel on the job for
increased productivity –goal of the industry.)
The role of the parent becomes
very paramount in developing such a calibre of vocational graduates. Parents
influence career choices of their children and who they end being in their
lives. Homes are largest investment and greatest havens of creating great minds
and stunted-dependent minds. Therefore, a new approach to career guidance is unavoidable
in this era, especially with the failed old education system mainly focused on
theory, which has been the major characteristic feature of mostly universities.
It is very risky today to simply
say to a child, “study hard and look for a job.” A child today needs a more
sophisticated education, and the current system is not delivering the goods.
Vocational training has proved to be one of the tools in developing a new crop
of youths who innovate, work hard, who use their intellect and hands to create
value, who are financially competent, self-reliant and look-out for “how they
can create employment (or how to come out of the ‘employed status’ when they
still have the strength to create wealth for themselves), and not who can
employ them until they retire.’
Parents can help the world have
a class of youths whose mind is not fine-tuned towards "entitlement”
mentality (i.e. pension, health policy, etc.). Things parents put in the ‘brain
chips’ of their children has a huge impact on who they become in their lives.
Career ‘worlds’ parents create in the minds of the children often determine the
career they pursue. Unfortunately, the two (parents and today’s children) are
living in very different times. In the 60s getting good grades at school, going
to university and looking for a secure job in government, and waiting for
entitlements made sense; but it is not workable anymore. Youths should be
allowed to explore their inner-self to pursue careers that enable them fit in
the world of today, not the non-existing world of the old age.
Gone are the days too when
industry waited for government to training human resource for them. Industry
currently require sophisticated and focused graduates who are ready to get
‘dirty’ (use their practical skills and intellect) to contribute towards
personal and national development. Combined input of the industry, government
and parents in sharping today’s pool of human capital can achieve a lot in
addressing some of the youth unemployment challenges.
