Fr. Antimi Paul, a delegate superior of the Salesians of Don Bosco - Moses Awan/Eye Radio September 13, 2023

A religious leader is calling on the government to invest more in vocational training of youth for the development of the country.

Priest Antimi Paul – who is a delegate superior of the Salesians of Don Bosco – said people should not only rely on ‘white collar jobs’ but rather become job creators.

A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional service, desk, managerial, or administrative work, and it may be performed in an office or other administrative setting.

Antimi said Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre, through the Technical and Vocational Education Education and Training, is also working closely with the government on how to strengthen the sector in the country.

He added that in the technical skills, youth can be more innovative.

“We have been in a long process of trying to harmonize our curriculum with that of the government and as we know the government, I think, when it comes to the technical education there is still a lot to be done,” said Fr. Antimi.

“It is not really well established, it is like this one on its own path and the other, like higher education and higher learning they are also on a different path,” he said.

“Practical skills are very important and sometimes we are too much preoccupied with white-collar jobs.”

“When it comes to technical skills, there is a lot of innovation involved and there is a lot of job creation involved which directly impacts the lives of the youth [people] and directly impact job creation in the country and even people don’t need to wait to be employed by the government.”

In November 2021, the embassy of Norway encouraged young people who have no access to basic education to join vocational and technical training centers in the country.

Several reports suggest that young people constitute almost 72% of the population in South Sudan, yet they are most unemployed.