A MALAITAN youth has pleaded to the incoming government to put education as its number one priority.
Philip Subu said this is important for the future of the country.
He said the government needs to look into this to address the growing youth population especially the unemployed youths.
“Solomon Islands is in a state called ‘The Bulge’, which means that it has a huge unemployed youth population,” Mr Subu said.
“Dependency ratio of Solomon Islands is also increasing, denoting the high dependency ratio will exert pressure on the government and if the government fails to address this (youth bulge) it will cause adverse social problems.
“This is what we are currently facing and we are begging the incoming government to seriously consider it,” he said.
Mr Subu said that any incoming government must prioritise education.
“There is already an inclusive-education policy in place however, the problem remains is lack of implementation and resources to implement the policy.
“Inclusive education entails informal and formal education.
“It addresses education at all levels,” he said.
He added that youth who have dropped from the formal education system can acquire other education that suits their strength such as Vocational Trainings, traditional-culture training and so forth.
“Our current education system does not accommodate that. This is why we have a lot of unemployed youths.
“It’s time the government build more public vocational schools so that youths can engage in technical trainings to address the growing youth bulge in our country,” he said.
Mr Subu said if the government continues to ignore or allow the pleas from youths to fall on deaf ears then the socio-economic impact of the ‘youth bulge’ will be enormous.”
By STEPHEN DI’ISANGO
in Auki
