Labour Statistics Report: 1.5m persons 15 to 24 years not in education, employment or training
The Big Stories || Labour Statistics Report: 1.5m persons 15 to 24 years not in education employment or training - JoyNews
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Transcript
00:00 This is the AM Show, welcome back.
00:03 We get into our big stories and we kickstart the conversation from the standpoint of that
00:08 latest report which shows that in the third quarter of last year, about 1.5 million Ghanaians
00:15 aged between 15 and 24 years.
00:18 That by the way, that age group constitutes about 24.2% of them were neither in some form
00:24 of education, employment or training.
00:27 Well, there are myriad consequences of that and we're going to be exploring them with
00:32 our guest this morning, Dr. Pearl Che.
00:36 Now she's a lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, that is RIFS of the
00:40 University of Ghana.
00:42 Dr. Che, a very good morning to you.
00:45 Thank you so much for joining us on the AM Show.
00:52 You would have to unmute Dr. Che.
00:54 Sorry, I forgot I was muted.
00:57 Can you hear me now?
00:58 I can hear you.
00:59 I can hear you very well.
01:01 Thank you so much for joining the conversation.
01:03 Thank you.
01:04 Good morning.
01:05 Right.
01:06 Thank you for having me.
01:07 What do you make of the latest reports?
01:10 It makes for cold reading in terms of the numbers.
01:14 In summary, what do you make of this latest revelation?
01:18 Yes.
01:19 So, OK, so first of all, I think the press release was done in, you know, to raise awareness
01:27 on Well-Being Skills Day, which is really supposed to highlight the importance of equipping
01:32 our youth with, you know, employable skills to be able to transition to the labour force
01:36 and really live, you know, productive life and also contribute to the development of
01:41 the nation.
01:42 So this, yes, this report, the statistics in the report were released earlier in the
01:48 year, I think in May.
01:49 And yes, the number of the proportion, which is about a quarter, is really about the global
01:56 percent, which is 23 percent.
01:59 And globally, it's a concern.
02:01 So definitely, if we are recording the same proportion as the global number, which is
02:05 the concern, then it's something that we need to be concerned about.
02:10 And in terms of Ghana's statistics, when you look at our population as per the latest census
02:17 and you look at the figures we are putting out as far as youth unemployment is concerned
02:23 and not just youth unemployment, youth not engaged in education, not engaged in employment,
02:28 not engaged in training.
02:31 What picture does that paint?
02:33 So let me first talk about the youth not engaged in employment, in education, employment or
02:41 training.
02:42 I mean, it's actually one of the SDG indicators, SDG 8.6.
02:46 Really because of the importance, because what has been seen in other studies is that
02:51 when you have youth that are not engaged in any of these three, then their risk of really
02:56 being socially excluded is high because they are not working, they are not in school, they
03:00 likely don't have the skills to help them to get those jobs that would lead them to
03:04 have their productive lives.
03:06 So really, the goal for every nation to be to try to make sure that the youth are really
03:12 engaged as productively as possible.
03:14 And this is, I mean, for the report is talking about the youth 15 to 24.
03:20 In terms of the long term implications, so, you know, demographers talk a lot about what
03:25 we call the demographic dividends.
03:27 And it's something that if you look at the developments of the East Asian countries,
03:33 when you equip your youth with skills, you know, when they are highly skilled, and they
03:39 can get, you know, skilled jobs that they can use to take care of themselves and also
03:43 contribute to the development of the nation, then you put yourself, you know, on a good
03:48 track for sustainable development.
03:50 But when the youth do not have those skills, then you really are at risk of not being able
03:54 to reap that demographic dividend, which is supposed to help you to develop.
03:59 So really, I mean, equipping the youth with skills is very important.
04:03 And the focus is on skills.
04:05 So the deal was actually youth skills, they are not just education, because we know that
04:10 you may not get everything that you need from the formal educational system.
04:15 Now a lot of the things that the ILO and UNESCO talk about in terms of youth skills, you know,
04:21 we go beyond reading and writing, they talk about employable skills, you know, so things
04:25 like working with teammates, communicating, problem solving, critical thinking, and more
04:32 importantly, getting those skills that you need from on the job training, and work experience,
04:38 sometimes the youth do not have that.
04:39 So it's really important that even as people are going through the formal education system,
04:44 we find ways to help them to develop these employable skills so that they don't struggle
04:48 to find jobs when they are out of the formal educational system.
04:52 And really to encourage people to use alternative sources of learning to complement what they
04:57 are getting in school to make them employable.
05:00 And importantly, I forgot also digital skills.
05:02 I mean, I think UNESCO has said that more than 90% of jobs would require some digital
05:08 skills.
05:09 So we want to make sure that youth have the digital skills, they are able to have access
05:13 to those devices that they will be able to use to access the internet or, you know, to
05:20 get information, to communicate with others, to search for jobs.
05:24 And I know recently there was a census report on digital exclusion, and then we found that,
05:29 you know, really about maybe a million or two million of the youth were not, you know,
05:36 had not used an ICT device in the three months preceding census night.
05:41 And that's really not a good thing because the internet has been shown to be one of the
05:45 ways that youth can access training opportunities, job opportunities, and also able to develop
05:51 their skills.
05:53 Now again, it paints quite a picture for Ghana because it reveals then that one in every
05:59 four young persons is an NEET, not engaged in education, employment, or training.
06:09 That is 24.2%.
06:12 This is a fourth of the youth bulge or the youth population.
06:18 That also makes for stark reading, especially as you contemplate that in the greater Accra
06:22 region you're looking at the number being 312,394, followed by the Ashanti region with
06:31 300,161, the eastern region with over 131,000, and the central region with 129,000 plus.
06:41 Now you spoke about the fact that this is a core component of the SDGs, 8.6, but what
06:48 does this say about how far Ghana has come or not come in dealing with the situation?
06:55 COVID came, COVID-19 came, the Russo-Ukrainian war has also been on our hands, but have we
07:00 done enough then in this regard?
07:03 So honestly, it would be difficult for me to say because I have not been, the statistics
07:08 have not been collected over time to be able to make that assessment.
07:13 But what we know is that globally, the proportion has increased post-COVID, so the youth unemployment
07:20 and the youth not in education, employment or training has increased post-COVID and it's
07:25 yet to fall back to pre-COVID level.
07:28 So we can assume the same pattern is holding clear, but it would not be possible for me
07:33 to say.
07:35 Now that we are having these quarterly statistics from the statistical service, then we can
07:40 monitor the trend over time and see how we are doing.
07:44 In other words, we would need sustained research.
07:47 So these studies by the GSS would have to come through for about how long before we
07:52 can pinpoint what exactly is happening?
07:55 So I mean, globally, they look at it on an annual basis.
07:59 So I think even, you know, from year to year, we can see whether we are trending.
08:04 So if we have a third, so this is the third quarter, I mean, sometimes it may be some
08:07 seasonal things influencing what's happening, but we can then see what happens in the third
08:12 quarter of next year.
08:13 Then we see whether we are trending upward or downward.
08:16 Now the capital Accra and of course Tema can both be found in the Greater Accra region,
08:23 but any surprises in terms of the regional dynamics when it comes to the NEETs, of course,
08:29 the Greater Accra region, first, the Ashanti second, you would also consider population,
08:34 the Eastern and Central regions.
08:37 Are you surprised at all?
08:39 Because if you look at the breakdown, you would find out that in 13 out of the 16 regions,
08:44 more than 20% of the young people aged between 15 and 24 were not in education, employment
08:51 or training.
08:52 And this also included the Eastern region with a 30% portion, which has the highest
08:58 population of youth with a figure of about twice that of the Bunu region at 14.5%, which
09:05 has the lowest proportion.
09:07 So when you look at the numbers, really, you would see that while the Greater Accra region
09:12 has the bigger chunk in terms of the over 312,000 followed by the Ashanti region, when
09:16 you look at the Eastern region, if you look at its youth population, it has the highest
09:21 proportion of youth NEETs.
09:25 What do you make of that information and what should be the guiding policy on this moving
09:31 forward, do you think?
09:32 So I think there are two things.
09:35 So you mentioned the population issue.
09:37 So definitely when you have a larger population, we would expect that you have a larger proportion
09:42 of youth not in education, employment or training, just because there are more youth in the region.
09:47 And I think we have seen from the census that the Greater Accra region, the Ashanti, they
09:54 do have their youth votes a bit more pronounced than the other regions.
09:58 So it's not surprising to see that they have those numbers.
10:02 As you mentioned, really, the number of regions that have the numbers above a certain threshold,
10:11 I think is a cause for concern.
10:14 One of the reasons we highlight the absolute numbers in addition to the proportions now
10:20 is because the SDG doesn't want to leave anybody behind.
10:23 So sometimes the proportions may mask the fact that there are really a large number
10:28 in a certain place.
10:29 Now, in terms of what needs to be done, so I think a lot has been proposed internationally
10:35 on how to help to get more youth engaged.
10:39 That is really focusing on giving them the employable skills because they really need
10:45 those skills to transition to the workforce.
10:49 So some people may, so part of the statistic, it did indicate the proportion that had never
10:54 been to school.
10:55 But you see that in addition to those that had never been to school, I mean, there's
10:59 still a gap.
11:00 So assuming that the rest of them have all had some education, but they are still currently
11:05 not in employment or not in training.
11:07 So this is where the lack of employable skills comes in.
11:11 Because employers want people with experience and some on the job skills that you would
11:15 not get when you are in school.
11:19 So the key thing really proposed is to try to make sure that while in school, children,
11:26 students, young people are able to access perhaps career counselling opportunities.
11:32 So they are able to know that, okay, sometimes I need this skill or that skill, because they
11:35 may not know if I want to go into this career, I need this particular set of skills.
11:41 In addition, when you think about things that maybe the educational sector can do, would
11:46 be to maybe integrate a bit more of the skills that they need in their labour force in school.
11:54 So for instance, I teach a theory class, but when I give them assignments, I try to make
11:58 them do presentations to raise funds for policy makers or to write a development plan or to
12:04 do the teamwork.
12:05 So some of those skills, we can build it into their formal educational system.
12:11 And then also to do the in-school training, which I talked about.
12:15 So making sure that while people are in school, they have access to internships and opportunities
12:19 that they can get to be in their labour force and sees what needs to be done.
12:24 Then collaboration between the education sector and industry.
12:27 So there's a bit more understanding of exactly what do you need?
12:31 What skills do you need?
12:32 Are there skills that you need?
12:34 Is it reflected in the curriculum?
12:37 If it's not, then how can we work together to make sure that those skills are available
12:42 so that their graduates come out and then have those skills?
12:46 So I think really the key is to make sure that there's employable skills being developed
12:50 by the time that youth come out of school so that they can make the transition to the
12:55 labour force.
12:56 And then for those that have not been to school, there should be a way to also reach out to
13:01 them to make sure that they also develop the employable skills.
13:05 Because really one of the things we know is that literacy and numeracy is not enough to
13:08 succeed in this world anymore.
13:10 I mean, a lot of complex skills are needed in the 21st century labour market.
13:14 And we really have to try to make sure that all youth have the opportunity to gain those
13:19 skills.
13:20 And that is crucial because, again, if you go back to the 2021 Population and Housing
13:25 Census, you would actually know that it indicates one in every 10, that is 11.1 persons, 11.1%
13:33 of persons aged between 15 and 24.
13:36 That constitutes 1.4 million young persons have never attended school.
13:42 Now if you look at the dynamic male/female, you would notice that 12% are female and they
13:48 have never attended school compared to 10.2% in the male category.
13:53 And particularly worrying when it comes to that aspect is the northern belt of the country.
13:58 Because you look at the Savannah region and it stands at a staggering 43.4%, almost 45%.
14:04 The northeast 36.8%, northern 33.3%, upper west 20.9%, and then OT 20.7%.
14:14 Now all of these, if you add OT, because OT is right at the junction there with the northern
14:20 belt.
14:21 If you add it, it means that the entirety of the northern belt, when you look at the
14:24 educational quota or quotient, they are way, way behind the rest of the country.
14:32 And I don't know what you think about that, because if you look at the historical antecedents,
14:37 that even prompted the formation of the Northern People's Party, politically speaking, though
14:43 it went against the constitution and we had to do away with that.
14:46 But the marginalization of the northern belt of the country when it comes to education,
14:52 what more can we, or should we be seen doing to cut down on these numbers?
14:58 I mean, 45%, close to 45%, is staggering.
15:02 Exactly.
15:03 And, you know, if we see education as a pathway to changing your life, then if you don't even
15:09 have the chance to go through the formal education system at all, then you really are at a disadvantage.
15:15 So the key thing, I mean, for those that are already out of their school-going age, I mean,
15:21 there really has to be ways to reach them, to help them to develop some skills that they
15:25 can use.
15:26 But in terms of maybe those that are currently of school-going age, you know, there's a lot
15:33 has been done on why children don't go to school.
15:36 You know, even in places where, on paper, I mean, you know, the schooling is free, it
15:42 doesn't cost you money to go.
15:44 So why is it that there are so many children out of school?
15:48 And I'll touch on a few of those reasons.
15:50 So the first is, you know, one of the things that has been proposed is really to take a
15:54 multi-sectoral approach to resolving this problem, because you would really need to
15:59 tackle things like poverty and hunger before you expect every child to go to school.
16:05 Because if the family has to send their child to school, has to feed them, has to buy textbooks,
16:12 you know, has to pay anything, as opposed to maybe letting the child do something that
16:16 will bring in some economic activity.
16:19 So when you are poor, I mean, you have to think about all these concerns like food,
16:23 shelter, your health, before the education comes in.
16:25 So really for poor people, and you know, there's a lot done on the differences between the
16:31 educational enrolments of those that are poor and those that are not poor, because they
16:34 just have too many competing interests.
16:37 So that could be one of the reasons.
16:39 And then we talk about things such as, you know, the direct and then the indirect support.
16:43 So this is the opportunity cost of my time.
16:45 The child is in school, but they could be out there earning some money to help take
16:51 care of themselves.
16:52 So at that point, it's not even the parents that is forcing the child not to go to school.
16:57 The child could independently make the decision to not go to school, because there are more
17:01 lucrative things happening at the same time, rather than being in school.
17:06 And then you worry about things like, yes, you know, when the school is a bit far away,
17:11 then parents are reluctant to send, especially younger children, to school.
17:18 And the census did release, you know, a proximity to essential services last year.
17:25 And it's quite interesting to see, again, in the northern part of the country, a higher
17:29 proportion of the structures are far away from outside of the recommended one kilometre,
17:36 three kilometre, five kilometre for the pre-primary, primary, JHS respectively.
17:41 So the distance is also a challenge.
17:44 Because sometimes you may go out to primary school and end because there's no JHS within
17:49 walking distance.
17:50 So a lot really goes into why children don't go to school.
17:55 And really, we always talk about the government, but, you know, success in school, you know,
18:00 the parents have the role to play, the child has the role to play, the school has the role
18:03 to play, you know.
18:04 So it should be engaging, children should find it interesting, they should want to learn,
18:09 they should get benefits of education, they should be healthy, they should be happy, they
18:13 should be properly fed so that when they go to school, they can concentrate, you know,
18:17 their parents should be supportive at home, help them with their homework if there's additional
18:22 support to be made.
18:23 So you know, even things like, is there a table in the house, is there electricity?
18:26 All these things contribute, you know, to making sure that children can go through school
18:30 successfully.
18:31 So we really have to tackle, you know, this proportion of children out of school.
18:37 And really, when you look at the current school going age, I think those statistics were also
18:42 released earlier, it's also high in that part of the country.
18:45 So it's not really the youth, but if you look at those who are six to 17 as well, so really,
18:52 really a cause for concern.
18:54 It really is a cause for concern.
18:56 And I've taken stock of the points you've made.
18:59 It's not just, it doesn't just behoove government to do what it must, but of course, there are
19:04 the challenges to do with the institutions themselves, and also parents.
19:08 Each one of these has a role in that train.
19:12 But even more so, government, because how many private institutions do we have in this
19:17 country?
19:18 And how about the public ones, which serve the masses?
19:22 And that is where I have a concern.
19:23 I don't know how many times you've paid a visit to the Northern Belt of the country,
19:28 but we have one of our latest documentaries, The Schools of Shame.
19:33 I don't know whether you saw that.
19:35 If you look at the learning conditions across the country, but you look especially at the
19:39 Northern Belt of the country, we have schools under trees in many regions, but you look
19:43 at the Northern Belt, again, it appears for everything, they are the worst hit.
19:51 These cannot be, you know, we cannot foster this and think that even if children were
19:59 encouraged to go to school, they wouldn't.
20:01 If you've seen the children studying on the bare floor with their knees and their elbows
20:06 looking all black because they always have to be crawling, if you see those who are on
20:12 the bare floor, a cemented floor with many holes, jagged ends, with no desks, in some
20:20 places with no boards, don't think of a white board, no black board, okay?
20:26 So there's this institution we went to where the teacher had to do what we call air writing,
20:32 write in the air for the children.
20:34 I mean, how can you even encourage a child to go to such a place to study?
20:40 Those are the minimum questions we should be asking.
20:44 Of course, and again, a lot of research has been done on what we call the learning environment.
20:49 So it's not really only just about going to school.
20:52 The learning environment in the classroom must be conducive so that the children must
20:56 have a good place to sit.
20:58 You know, even things like, even, you know, they talked about even the color of the classroom,
21:01 you know, some colors promote, you know, like maybe the pinks and the yellows, the way that
21:06 the tables and the chairs are arranged, you know, the lighting, the sound.
21:11 So there's really a lot on making sure that the learning environment is conducive.
21:15 I mean, same at home as well.
21:17 The home environment, you know, there should be some place for the children to be able
21:20 to study comfortably.
21:22 Unfortunately, most of this research is really not from our setting, you know, so we know
21:28 that yet in other maybe developed parts of the world, these are the things they should
21:33 promote learning.
21:34 So you are right, it's not just enough to be physically present, but there are all these
21:38 other things that should make the learning conducive.
21:42 And really, this is not just a problem that Ghana is facing.
21:47 It's currently what, you know, it's called the global learning crisis.
21:51 So the World Bank, you know, has really talked about the fact that about half of the children
21:58 in low and middle income countries, you know, cannot read and write a short sentence by
22:02 the end of primary school.
22:03 So it's really a global problem.
22:06 So these are children that have been to school, but they are not able to finish with the minimum
22:11 learning proficiency that you would expect at, you know, at that age.
22:16 And part of it is due to the lack of infrastructure, the fact that, you know, there's inadequate
22:24 learning materials.
22:26 And one of the things they've also talked about is even the way assessments are done.
22:30 So is the educational system able to identify those that are struggling to properly help
22:35 them to do what needs to be done?
22:38 So those are all the things that they talk about.
22:40 And really now there's a lot of, you know, concern about this global learning crisis
22:44 because it is really going to endanger the global progress towards the SDGs.
22:49 Because, you know, quality education really runs through a number of the SDGs as well.
22:54 So it's really a global problem.
22:56 And it's not something that is just, it's just peculiar to us.
23:01 So let's look at the-
23:02 The school environment is not as conducive for learning as it should be.
23:05 And I keep on saying, it's half of low and middle income countries, and, you know, and
23:12 they say 80% in their poor countries.
23:14 So it's really a problem.
23:17 You mentioned the SDG goals and rightly so.
23:20 And we have for most of them targets around 2030.
23:23 We're already in 2023.
23:25 As we get ready to cap off the conversation, I want us to look at these SDG goals.
23:32 There's SDG goal one, talking about no poverty.
23:36 Goal two, talking about zero hunger.
23:39 And of course, there is goal eight, which you highlighted.
23:42 So I just want you to look at the spectrum.
23:45 No poverty, we're in the midst of a lot of poverty in this country, per these statistics.
23:51 Because of course, if the young people, about a fourth of them are not even in employment,
23:55 they are not in any sort of training, what do you expect them to do?
23:57 How do they eke out a living?
24:00 Then zero hunger.
24:01 If you have no money, if you're impoverished, then your likelihood of getting hungry or
24:06 going without food is very high.
24:09 Then we have the third point, which you may mention of decent work.
24:15 And this is what SDG eight spells out.
24:19 It talks about the key role of decent work for all in achieving sustainable development,
24:24 being highlighted by sustainable development goal eight, which aims to quote, promote sustained
24:30 inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full of productive employment and decent work
24:35 for all.
24:36 Now, decent work, employment creation, social protection rights at work, and social dialogue
24:42 represent integral elements of the new 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
24:48 I find it interesting when it mentions their rights, economic rights.
24:55 These are things that in our part of the world, we don't follow up on.
24:58 I know in other jurisdictions, people have sued government for on the back of economic
25:03 rights, not having work to do.
25:06 Yeah.
25:07 Uh, let me just state this bluntly in political circles, lots of jobs are created for the
25:11 boys and girls, and we know exactly what we are talking about.
25:15 Yet the masses are not employed.
25:18 Administration in administration out, we'll come and say, Oh, we've created X number of
25:22 jobs.
25:23 After a short while, you ask yourself, where are the jobs?
25:25 Those same people are back to square one.
25:29 So what then should be the way forward for Ghana on this trajectory to enable us come
25:35 somewhat close to the goal for year 2030?
25:39 You look at the, so when we talk about the demographic dividends, you need to harness
25:45 for sustainable development.
25:46 You know, there are four pillars to harness what we call the first dividend.
25:50 And one of them is education, which we've talked about in depth.
25:53 So really making sure that your labor force has the skills.
25:56 It's not even about them going to school, but we just talked about the fact that going
26:00 to school doesn't necessarily mean that you have the skills, but really making sure that
26:04 your labor force has the skills to be able to, to have high skilled jobs.
26:09 And the important thing about the job creation for the demographic dividends, they have to
26:13 be high skilled job.
26:14 So the person is, is earning enough money to take care of themselves and to save for
26:18 the future so that when they are old, they will not come back and rely on the government
26:23 or their children to take care of them.
26:25 But then they also, the high skilled jobs generate tax revenue for the country.
26:28 So that's the first pillar.
26:30 The second one is health.
26:32 So we actually, you know, you also need a healthy population to harness the dividend
26:37 and the health goes beyond just, I mean, physical health.
26:40 You have to be physically, emotionally, mentally healthy, and even things like having the self-confidence
26:46 and the self-esteem to be able to carry out these high skilled jobs.
26:50 Then the third one is the job creation.
26:53 So the jobs that are created for these skilled youth have to be high skilled jobs, as I mentioned.
26:58 And then the fourth pillar is governance.
26:59 So the governance has to be in place to make sure that all these things, all these three
27:04 things are working and it's sustained.
27:06 So when you look at how the demographic dividend is going to be achieved, these are really
27:11 the four wheels, they say, that you tend to get to prosperity.
27:16 And then that's the first step.
27:17 And then you have a second dividend, which they say is the key to sustainable development.
27:22 So with the second dividend, your skilled labor force really has to be able to save
27:27 and accumulate wealth.
27:29 Because one of the challenges that we overlook when you have a high proportion of the youth
27:34 that is not employed or they go through, you know, their labor force working years in maybe,
27:42 you know, low skilled, low paying jobs is that when they get to retirement age, they
27:45 are ill prepared.
27:46 They are not able to take care of themselves.
27:49 So now they become a societal, you know, a vulnerable group that society has to protect.
27:54 So either like the government has to take care of them or their children have to take
27:57 care of them.
27:58 And you know, in these times where the fertility rate is declining and you know, with this
28:03 global economic crisis, you cannot rely on your children.
28:06 So it's really important that we equip the youth to be able to have these high skilled
28:10 jobs so that they can save for the future.
28:12 And then when they are old, they are able to take care of themselves.
28:15 So that accumulation of skills and again, additional human capital investment so that
28:21 they can be skilled and productive even well beyond their retirement age is the key to
28:26 the second dividend that we need for sustainable development.
28:30 So these are really all the things that we need to put in place.
28:34 And let me just put in my personal page for what I always talk about, financial literacy
28:38 and saving for the future.
28:40 Because ultimately, if you are not on the pension scheme and you get there, you need
28:44 to have something because that wealth that you accumulate when you retire is what is
28:51 going to help those resources that will be used to support the elderly people.
28:56 They are self sufficient, they can be used to for other sectors of the economy.
29:01 So it's really important that we invest in the things that will help us to reach the
29:05 first dividend and the second dividend for sustainable development.
29:10 And just right before you go, you know, across the world now we're talking not just about
29:16 security in terms of armaments, in terms of the military or militarization, we're talking
29:22 about human security, human security concerns, and that feeds into national security concerns.
29:28 Now if you have a teeming youth population that is largely unemployed and educated and
29:36 trained, they are going to saddle whatever economy they find themselves in.
29:41 So rather than translating these into a skilled workforce, we'll have a burden on our society
29:49 that would have to clothe, feed, provide health for when maybe their contribution through
29:56 no fault of theirs is not adequate.
29:59 We can talk about unemployment in terms of those who are purely unemployed, those who
30:04 are underemployed, they are properly skilled, they don't have jobs matching their work.
30:09 How much then from where you sit is of a national security threat is the cocktail that we have
30:19 in Ghana.
30:20 Looking at the different percentages we've mentioned, looking at the Northern Belt and
30:23 education, looking at the entirety of the country and then the NEETs.
30:29 How much of a national security concern is it?
30:32 How much more attention should we be paying to that?
30:34 That's the final bit I'll throw to you.
30:36 Definitely.
30:37 So we need to pay attention to it.
30:39 I'm happy you mentioned the youth vault.
30:41 There's actually a theory called the youth vault theory which really looks at, well if
30:45 you have a youth vault, these are the things that you need to do because if you don't make
30:50 sure that the youth are productively engaged, then there is the risk of these concerns about
30:56 maybe conflict or internal crisis.
30:59 Basically what the research has shown is that it's not that the youth vault in itself, like
31:05 having a high youth population in an office leads to these issues, but when you have other
31:11 conditions such as the high unemployment, when socioeconomic conditions are tough, then
31:18 it increases the risk that that high youth population may lead to other issues.
31:22 So really, definitely, the bottom line is that the youth need to be productively engaged
31:30 for their own mental well-being, for their own health, and then really for the development
31:35 of their country, both in the short term and the long term.
31:40 Thank you so much, Doc, for joining the conversation.
31:43 We're really grateful.
31:44 Dr Pearl Che is a lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, RIPS of
31:52 the University of Ghana.
31:54 Once more, we're grateful, Doc, and do have a good day.
31:56 Have a nice day.
31:59 All right, so we move on from here.
32:01 We take a look at malfunctioning traffic lights here in Accra.
32:06 I'll be telling you about motorists who are worried that these lights could lead to accidents
32:12 on the road.
32:14 We'll be checking out a few of them and then speak to the relevant authorities, but that
32:18 will be much later.
32:21 Until then, though, today being a Wednesday, courtesy of EcoBank, the Pan-African Bank,
32:28 we're coming your way with AM Business.
32:30 Now yesterday, we had that business roundtable, if you like, a pre-budget forum, and some
32:36 players within the business community have been sharing their expectations for the 2023
32:41 mid-year budget review.
32:43 They want government to find diverse ways of addressing Ghana's economic issues, rather
32:49 than focusing solely on the introduction of new taxes.
32:52 So what is the way forward?
32:54 We hear from them now.
32:56 [music]
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