The Importance of Education to Youth Employment in Africa

Abstract

The paper argues that education is an important tool for the empowerment and productive engagement of the African youth. While it is acceptable that there are schools in Africa from primary to university level, the paper insists that education in African schools should be reformed to be labour market oriented, especially from secondary school level. The nucleus of the argument is that education in African schools mainly starting from the secondary schools should be aimed at capacity building, skill acquisition and development of programmes that would be structured to basic professions like painting, cookery, carpentery, ICT, tailoring, fishery and other basic agricultural related fields. African countries today lack 21st century artisans as often, university graduates find it difficult to be engaged with such professions with dignity, while secondary school leavers lack the basic skills and professional knowhow to be either self-employed or engaged by others on graduation. Tertiary education ought to be employment driven, in harmony with prevailing labour-market realities. It is by the development of policies by governments in this direction can education reasonably add value to the African youth and the continent at large. The research methodology is analytical.