THE EDITOR, Sir:
ONE OF the first things that the new Prime Minister is mandated to do is to address the issue of unemployment which should be ranked second only to crime in terms of priority for attention. This should start with examination of the education system which is now geared towards seeking rather than creating employment, and in an environment where the supply of skills on the job market far exceeds the demand. The situation has become so acute that young graduates, both at the secondary and tertiary level, are migrating from our shores daily, in search of greener pastures.
The curriculum in the schools is geared towards seeking a job upon graduation with very little emphasis being placed on entrepreneurial skills. Curriculum courses should encourage young people to go into their own business ventures upon graduation. Jobs do not create real wealth for our people, but rather create a dependency on a hand-to-mouth existence, living from pay cheque to pay cheque.
Large corporations and medium-sized businesses should, therefore, become involved in the honing of these business skills by acting as the brain centres for these new ventures, providing internship opportunities and follow up of those who venture into these areas to ensure success in the first 10 years, the period of highest failure in business. They should also provide start-up capital for these business ventures and then monitor the progress. These opportunities would in turn have a multiplier effect.
So over to you, Mesdames Prime Minister and Minister of Education, and let use see how we can adjust our educational system to one of independence rather than dependency.
I am,etc.,
CYNTHIA BURTON
cynthiae@cwjamaica.com
