VICE-PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to grace the upcoming joint meeting of Labour and Employment Minister from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The meeting will be held this Thursday at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam.
The event, among other things, will tag along the official launch of the National Skills Development Programme aimed at providing graduates and other youths in the country with internship opportunities in public and private institutions so that they can fit for the job market.
The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the
Disabled, Jenista Mhagama, told a press conference yesterday that currently, there are 5,780 youths who are doing internship programme in various institutions and over 1,000 people have secured employments after taking part in the programme.
“Right now, there are over 14,000 applications from graduates from different professions, they will be placed in various institutions according to the needs,” she said.
“The programme facilitates youths to acquire employable skills to make them more competitive and productive in the labour market,” added the minister.
According to her, the internships also provide a valuable opportunity for employers as key and important players in skills development to collaborate with training institutions in preparing employees with relevant work ethics needed by employers in the local and global labour markets.
The minister revealed that Tanzania’s youth workforce stood at 15.7 million which was equivalent to 56 per cent of a total population of the country’s manpower.
The government, she said, has been conducting a number of studies on labour status, whereas in 2014 state of unemployment was at 10.3 per cent and in 2018, it was recorded at 9.7 per cent.
Ms Mhagama stressed on the government’s determination to have a competent workforce which is among the key drivers for fostering industrialisation and attainment of national target of becoming a middle-income country by 2025.
“On that day, my office will also issue awards to institutions that have played a great role in training youths and employing them after being satisfied with their discipline and performances,” she revealed.
Ms Mhagama said the SADC meeting of ministers responsible for labour and employment will be held between 5th and 6th March this year, after the completion of meetings of senior officials and stakeholders of the sector from member countries that started yesterday and will be concluded on Wednesday this week.
“The meeting will discuss and adopt different agendas including those that were discussed last year in Windhoek, Namibia,” she explained.
So far, 10 ministers out of 16 have already confirmed to attend the meeting, with the government hoping that the number of delegates will go high as the date of the event draws near.
The event will also bring together 300 employers; leaders from trade unions from 16 countries.
