Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde urges students to volunteer

Hon. Amelia Kyambadde has urged students to engage in volunteer services in various organizations to explore opportunities, utilize their skills as well as create networks that can connect them to better employment opportunities.

While the Minister of Trade and Industry was concerned that unemployment among the youth is soaring in the Uganda, she noted that most graduates today lack both hands-on and employ-ability skills to sustain them at places of work.

“The time you spend on the streets searching for jobs should be invested in voluntary work and internship programmes. You may not be earning money but you are gaining skills and creating useful networks that will lead you to your dream job”, she advised.

Kyambadde made the remarks while presiding over a graduation ceremony of Management Training and Advisory Centre (MTAC) that saw over 400 students awarded with certificates and diplomas in various business and management courses.

Kyambadde implored graduates to take risks by starting up small income generating projects instead of waiting on white collar jobs which she said are currently limited on the market.

“If you have failed to find a job, team up with friends, generate an idea and see how you can turn into business and start small. The skills you have acquired today should empower you to be creative and innovative”, she noted.

Kyambadde who noted that government has created an enabling environment for institutions to train and empower students with skills challenged graduates to optimize the acquired knowledge and skills to make a contribution to socio- economic development in the East African region.

She also commended higher institutions of learning for offering skills and preparing students for a dynamic work environment and appealed to them to support domestic markets through buying locally manufactured products.