Youths are urging the government to do more to tackle the soaring unemployment in the country saying the state of affairs has plunged them into poverty.
Some of the unemployed youths are university graduates who say pledges by the government are empty as the unemployment rate, estimated at over 80%, is evergrowing.
This has resulted in the growth of the informal sector in the country.
Statistics from the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry suggest that about 30 000 students graduate yearly from the country’s universities and colleges. One university graduate, Takudzwanashe Gore who is now a vendor said he feels disillusioned as he grew up thinking that education is the key to a better life. Said the 29-year-old:
I have been to every office you can think of looking for employment, but I am still here on the street. I have been met with cynicism, rejection and on a better day, I get empty promises that never materialised.
Growing up, I used to believe it is only through education that one can have a better life.
Our parents believed that too and that is the reason why they sold everything that they had to send us through to university. This has not been the case. Government officials cannot talk of their commitment to youths if they don’t create employment for them.
The socio-economic crisis in the country forced some youths including Mercy Toendepi, an 18-year-old school from Epworth, to drop out of school as their parents could no longer afford school fees.
On the International Youth Day, commemorated every August 12, several human rights groups called for the inclusion of youths in developmental issues. They said a country that does not invest in its youth, invests in failure.
When President Mnangagwa rose to power in 2017, he pledged to revive the economy for the creation of jobs, jobs, jobs, yet his critics say the situation has not transformed for the better since then and the coronavirus pandemic worsened the situation.
More: NewsDay