What Can Be Done to Solve the Unemployment Puzzle in Jamaica
In Jamaica today, the rate of youth unemployment is very distressing. Statistics indicate that 39% of the youth are jobless. Clearly, this is a significant loss of valuable labour in its prime. For so many years, unemployment has been a complicated puzzle that not even the government has been able to solve. It’s the main reason why the rate of crimes in the streets is always high. Violence, drugs, and prostitution have become the order of the day in the beautiful Caribbean country. The good news, though, is that something can be done to unravel the riddle.
The first solution comes in the form of apprenticeship. One reason why most youths are unemployed is that they don’t have the skills to get into trading activities. In apprenticeships, the youths, especially the uneducated ones, are trained in vocational disciplines. In this case, the few employers and investors who have businesses in Jamaica are encouraged to train youths in their line of trade – until they get the necessary skills to start their own trade and train others as well.