‘Youth need innovative, self-employment drive’ -- Engineer Stella Manyanya

DEPUTY Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Engineer Stella Manyanya, has called upon youth in the country to be innovative by employing themselves instead of expecting employment from the government.

Eng Manyanya made the remarks in Dar es Salaam yester day during the launching of VIA Pathways to work programme of training youth on entrepreneurship.

“The nation needs youth who will create self- employment and not who expect to be employed by the government. The main aim of the programme is to improve economic opportunity for youth in the country,” Eng Manyanya said.

She said that youth in the entrepreneurship pathway receive a similarly holistic package that includes life skills training, entrepreneurship training, mentorship and access to finance support. She added that the implementation of the projects was for five years.

Over two thousand youth aged between 18 to 24 years in urban areas, she said, would benefit from the programme by being linked to employment and learning opportunities and mentor young entrepreneurs. She called upon stakeholders to build efficiency in the implementation of the projects in order to reach the targets.

She urged Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) to expand the relationship with partners and employers to meet 2025 Millennium Development Goal (MDG). According to Eng Mnyanya, collaborative efforts are necessary to address challenges that face youth in the country.

International Youth Foundation (IYF) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr William Reese, said that VIA Pathway to Work programme improves economic opportunities for the underserved youth in Mozambique and Tanzania through sustainable changes in the technical and vocational training (TVET) and entrepreneurship system.

“The nation needs youth who will create self- employment and not who expect to be employed by the government. The main aim of the programme is to improve economic opportunity for youth in the country,” 

“VIA will provide over two thousand economically disadvantaged youth living in urban areas with a set of holistic training interventions and support services that will allow them to secure improved work opportunities through wage earning, self em ployment or a combination of the two,” he said.

The Director General of VETA, Mr Geoffrey Sabuni, said that VETA would ensure that their graduates do not only score good grades, but also enter the labour market with right attitudes, problem solving minds, commitment, creativity and character qualities.

Assistant Director of Employment in the Prime Minister’s Office, Labour, Youth Employment and Persons with Disability, Mr Ahmed Makbel, called upon youth to be creative to tackle challenges that many youth face in the country.

“Despite efforts made by the government to create awareness for youth in the country on selfemployment, the problem of unemployment is still there because many youth do not think of selfemployment. Instead, they wait to be employed by the government,” he said.

Mr Makbel added: “We thank these stakeholders to come up with this project, which will train our youth on entrepreneurship and help to change their attitude with regard to self-employment. In the programme VIA collaborates with the MasterCard Foundation.

VIA activities will be conducted in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mtwara and Morogoro for five years with partners - the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) and Tanzania Entrepreneurship and Competitive Centre (TECC).

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