By Sainabou Sanneh
As many youths are confronted with unemployment syndrome in the country, some of the unemployed youths have expressed how emotional they are for not being able to reach their goals.
Poverty, dropping out of school and peer influence, lack of experience in skills, low educational background, and not enough industries to keep young people engaged are among the causes of unemployment of the youths.
However, in an interview with this medium, Babucarr Jassey, a high school graduate said poverty is one of the reasons why young people are on the streets with a lack of finance to support their educational careers.
“I have ambitions of being a better person in the future to become a good role model for the generation yet to come, but things fall apart due to lack of finance to reach my goals. I wanted to become a nurse and I asked for assistance from some of my family members to support my tertiary education but nothing changed,” he narrated.
Since he was unsuccessful to pursue his ambition, therefore, engages in football during any tournament.
Babucarr encouraged other youth like him to always take up responsibilities to engage themselves in skills work to benefit themselves, while appealing to the government to bring projects that can benefit the youths including vocational schools to keep the young people busy
Alimatou Sonko disclosed that she is an orphan who lived with her grandmother “I went to school but dropped out of school when I was in grade 5.”
She said life was hard on them because they could not even afford their own house where they live, “my grandmother sells water during the Era of Nan Water (ceiled nylon pure water) but when it was banned she sells groundnut at our compound gate.”
She disclosed that poverty almost conquered them but because her mother’s family is in Guinea Bissau and could not reach them she decided to drop out of school because they cannot sustain it.
Alimatou advised other youths of her age to pursue a skill to develop themselves, though, noted that a woman can get married to a better man who will take her responsibilities but with young men is a different case.
She wants the government to consider the youth “because we are the future leaders.”
In his case, Ebrima Mbaye said he is not a graduate simply because “I am not good at reading and writing it is not my way. I was later influenced by my friends not to attend classes but just to only roaming around the streets thinking of traveling to foreign countries to make a better life.”
He said he later realised that even if he happened to travel abroad his level of education is low, with no job or work experience, and no skill, and quickly knew that life will never be easy for him.
Ebrima enjoined other young people to try and fasten their belts and ready to work.