In developing countries, growing up in poverty seems to be a curse and nightmare. This is because many youth and children do not see any light at the end of the tunnel when they find themselves in such kind of situation. The most important component of their lives is how to survive. This is the reason why most of these children become sex slaves or terrorists or drug addicts and abusers. They are actually people with no hope!
In many developing countries such as Uganda, the education system does not completely help these youth because it is itself very expensive, takes long to complete studies and in most cases the system does not provide the necessary life skills for these youth. Education results in job seekers rather than job creators, hence the level of unemployment has increased exponentially
Therefore in order for young people growing up in poverty to thrive in their adult world, they need to be helped in the following ways.
IDENTIFICATION
There is need to identify the youths that are poor and study their backgrounds.
Many developing countries do have Universal Primary Education, Universal Secondary Education and institutions that can impart useful skills to the youth but, but there are many dropouts and such systems end up leaving a big fraction of youths out of the system.
Identifying the youth that are poor and have dropped out of school is very important because it helps to find quality and the best performers.
EMPHASIS ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION
The Education Systems for many developing countries take too long. A child may take up to 20 years in school system before obtaining a degree certificate!
In many developing countries primary secondary and tertiary education is very expensive. It leaves out many who would be skilled. In some cases technical education has been despised as the type of education for the poor and less advantaged children. Therefore there is need to encourage children to take these technical subjects which take a short time to complete and can be done after primary level.
BUSINESS EDUCATION
The youths should be given skills in business. This will help to make the entrepreneurs business men and women.
AGRICULTURE
The youths should be given skills to practice agriculture principles. This will help in the growing of crops and keeping of animals both for food and for sale.
NON FORMAL EDUCATION
Many youths may not have chance to go to formal schools. To help such youths non formal skills of education should be offered to them. Such skills include carpentry, brick laying, motor vehicle repair and mechanics, agriculture, animal and crop husbandry.
PERFORMING ARTS AND MUSIC
The youth have tended to love performing arts and music. For example you will find most of them singing or trying to perform as their celebrities do. But the challenge is that they do not have a way of how they can develop these talents. If they are encouraged and trained in this discipline, they will live a prosperous life.
FOOTBALL AND OTHER GAMES AND SPORTS
The youth need to be identified, trained and supported in football and other games and sports. Many youths are moved by these sports and games.
By encouraging the youths to form youths clubs, talents will be developed and through this the youths will be able to live a prosperous adult life.
CAREER GUIDANCE AND ROLE MODELS
The youths should be given career guidance and should be encouraged to have role models. This makes them have a choice of skills and model of a person they want to become.
SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
The youths should be guided spiritually. Thy should be encouraged to practice their faith and their parents should be their guide.
Most youths have gone off- track because of not paying attention to what they come across in their lifetime. Some parents do not care of what their children see on TV or smart phones.
There is much uncensored material on the market which is not good for children and the youths.
Parents and community leaders should advocate for laws that censor some of the material that is seen on the screen.
Generally the youths and children form the largest part of world’s population. Those that grow in poverty need to be helped. If stakeholders can recognize and identify these young people and apply the above mitigation processes, our economies will grow and our countries will have a prosperous future.
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