How to Solve Ghana’s Unemployment Crisis in 3 Easy Ways?

Opinion

If you take a stroll down Accra street, you’ll notice that nearly seven out of ten people are unemployed. For years, Ghana’s unemployment rate has been on the rise. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse, but then came COVID-19 and a nationwide lockdown. Many businesses have closed as a result of the outbreak, and many more have been forced to downsize. As a result, Ghanaian’s jobless rate soar higher and higher.

Ghana’s unemployment situation is quickly spiraling out of control, with over 5 million people unable to work and earn a living.

What Can the Government Do to Address the Unemployment Crisis in Ghana?

One thing is for sure: the rubber-stamp method to address Ghana’s unemployment crisis has failed numerous times. We can’t anticipate a different outcome if we keep doing the same thing. We need a new strategy that is not just broad, but also viable, effective, solution-oriented, and practical. This begins with young people being trained and trusted. Young people would turn these terrible statistics around with the correct financial and educational help.

1. Revise The School Current Curriculum

The Ghanaian School Curriculum is outdated in every way. The majority of our courses do not address current challenges or contribute to students’ mental development. The system is set up to elevate grades over knowledge and talents. It’s no surprise that few Ghanaian graduates have the necessary skills to succeed in the twenty-first century.

To address modern needs, we must redesign our Curriculum. Some archaic Subjects should be replaced in the New Curriculum to teach current abilities such as Independent Research, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, Communication, Information Literacy, and Digital Literacy. It should emphasize the practical side of learning, motivate students to study, and transform final year projects from a platform to demonstrate academic knowledge into an opportunity to practice problem-solving. This should be the first step for anyone attempting to address Ghana’s unemployment situation.

2. Substitute Training for Capacity Building

Ghana with its natural resources has the capacity to assist young people in realizing their full potential. The type of capacity-building training courses that Ghanaian youth want are practical in nature, rather than one- or two-hour online courses that are of no use. They must provide job searchers with the necessary abilities to land their ideal job(s) or launch their own enterprises. Young Ghanaians who want to work for a company should not be compelled to become “emergency entrepreneurs.” They must be encouraged to become job producers rather than job seekers.

3. Entrepreneurship Funding

I’ve seen enough of my fellow young Ghanaians to understand that if the Government provides financial help, many of them will flourish as entrepreneurs. Many young Ghanaians have solid business ideas but lack the financial resources to implement them. The Government should make more funding available to aspiring entrepreneurs, whether in the form of grants or zero-interest loans.