Reality of Ghanaian youth

Every year, students from various universities in Ghana graduate with the hope of getting a job after finishing the mandatory national service.

Meanwhile, about 56 per cent of them remain unemployed. The perfect dream of these youth about their lives seems not to be the reality on ground. After making sacrifices and going through the stress of obtaining a degree, the youth are left to struggle to pave their own paths. It is frustrating and disheartening to make no progress after giving out several application letters to different companies.

Most of them become a burden to the same parents who were expecting to be taken care of after they have jobs. Due to this, some of the youth engage in social vices in order to be fulfilled and meet expectations.

Others also drown themselves in worry, which slides them into depression. As the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated, unemployment of the youth has an effect on their mental health which may eventually lead to depression.

Being unemployed makes the educated youth feel no different from the uneducated ones as they end up doing menial jobs to keep ends meet. Is there any hope for the younger ones?

Will they even be motivated to further their education? Or they will rather not waste their money and energy on education and end up being jobless? It is high time we saved the youth and gave them a purpose and also hope for the younger ones.

Priscilla Etornam A. Datsomor,
Graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.