The Nairobi government will come up with "innovative" ways to create jobs and address the rising rate of youth unemployment, Governor Evans Kidero has said.
Kidero said there has been an influx of youth completing colleges, form four and class eight and even drop outs, into the capital.
“Every year, about 1.2 million youth graduate from colleges and interestingly, about 800,000 of them end up in Nairobi, looking for job. But we only create about 50,000 jobs a year,” he said.
The Governor said there are about 100,000 school-aged children who are not learning although education is free in Kenya.
The city boss said there are 500,000 children in primary schools in the city and that about 47,500 of them sit KCPE every year. Out of the 47,500, only 22,000 transition to secondary schools.
“Only 6000 of the 22,000 who transition to secondary schools complete their studies and join universities and colleges. The rest are just out there and we all know the consequences of having idle youth,” he said.
He spoke during a service at the Mavuno Church in Lavington on Sunday.
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Kidero said something must be done, including inviting investors and creating environments conducive for the youth to get jobs.
He urged the national government to play its role to address the matter of unemployment.
The Governor noted that his administration has been providing scholarships and partnering with private entities to develop schools in the capital.
He cited Olympic Primary School school in Kibera, Old Mathare in Mathare, Marurui Primary School in Roysambu and Marura Primary School in Kariobangi.
“At Olympic, we partnered with Britam and constructed 36 classrooms were built. We have done the same with Centum and are building a new school at a cost of Sh120 million,” he said.
“We want improve our schools and expand them to accommodate more children."
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