He told viewers during “The Economists Conferences” debate session held at a Nairobi Hotel today (Friday) that the trust fund was critical in harnessing and nurturing the youths’ potential for the development of the nation.
Odinga regretted that the majority of school leavers from poor backgrounds failed to realise their aspirations due to lack of avenues to explore and pursue their untapped talents.
“The government has partly unveiled a marshal plan to empower the more than 800 000 school leavers joining the already flooded job market annually. These numbers can be transformed into an asset rather than a burden,” he said.
The Premier said the youth were deliberately incorporated in the ongoing Economic Stimulus Programmes and other labour-intensive ventures to enable them to gain needed experience since the school curriculum only offered them the theoretical perspective.
He however said the government had recommended reforms in the education sector to ensure that what the curriculum offered was responsive to the demands of the job market.
The debate, whose theme was “Africa’s Young Population”, evaluated the opportunities and risks the growing numbers of young people on the continent presented to the development of Africa.
Among the panelists was former anti-corruption czar John Githongo, the Economist’s Middle East and Africa Editor Xan Smiley, and UNICEF deputy regional director Elke Wisch.
