At 28.6 per cent, the country’s youth unemployment rate remains an alarming concern. It calls for proper interventions that will ensure the increasing number of unemployed youth are provided job opportunities. In Sarpang, to enable adolescents and youth who are not in school to take advantage of the opportunities and realise their full potential, the Gelephu Youth Centre organised a weeklong workshop for youth who are not in education, employment or training. The workshop ended yesterday.
Youths from all across Sarpang who are not studying, employed or in training come to Gelephu in search of employment as Gelephu is a growing urban town.
Realising this, the Gelephu Youth Center felt the need to provide these unemployed adolescents with a session on capacity building to help them find gainful employment.
The workshop is intended to help them gain life skills, communication and networking skills and understand the youth issues in the community. 24 unemployed youth participated in the workshop.
“Through some surveys, we have found out that most of the youth are not actually from proper Gelephu but they have come from other districts as well. Basically, we want to bring all those unemployed youth together and make them aware of the opportunities that are available at the national level, the local level and the regional level. All those opportunities they can take up and get meaningfully employed,” said Chandra Bahadur Subba, the manager of Gelephu Youth Center.
Some of the participants said they were unaware of the government offering continuing education scholarships, help with job searches and capacity building for entrepreneurs for self-employment.
After the workshop, eight participants chose to look for employment, nine decided to continue their education, and four decided to start their own business.
“We learned about loan schemes and from where to access loans and I am planning to open a bakery,” said Manju Chhetri, a participant.
“During the training, I could learn different business ideas that I can use in my daily life. I also learned how to prepare a business plan and proposal,” said Dorji Nidup, another participant.
The Manager of the Gelephu Youth Center said through this workshop, they hope to enhance the soft skills of the youth. They also plan to connect these youth with prospective training institutions, employers and financial institutions.
The initiative is to reduce the number of unemployed youth. The Programmes and Youth Coordination Division of the Ministry of Education and Skills Development organised the training with support from UNICEF.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
Edited by Phub Gyem
