Parliament slots Sh1bn in Budget to hire interns

Parliament has revised the budget for the year starting July to include a Sh1 billion allocation for hiring interns who will be paid Sh25,000 monthly.

The National Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee (BAC) wants the Public Service Commission (PSC) to hire the interns from every constituency.

This opens the door for thousands of fresh graduates to gain experience and earn upkeep in a country where the unemployment rate stands at 40 per cent.

Fresh graduates are generally viewed as lacking specialised market skills and experience to perform tasks.

Employers in Kenya complain of poor quality graduates who do not meet the needs of the job market, prompting companies to spend millions of shillings on on-the-job training.

“Increase allocation for Public Service Commission (PSC) by Sh1 billion for monthly stipend of interns,” said BAC in recommendations that must be adopted by the Treasury in the budget for the year starting July.

It will also help the government ease a job crisis in the civil service where 60,000 workers will have retired in the three years to June 2020.

The interns would have an effect of easing the pain bloated wage bill in replacing some of retiring workers.

Public service salaries consume half of all revenues and impede spending on development projects in Kenya, a country mired in poverty

The number of formal jobs generated by the economy fell to a six-year low last year, worsening the plight of school leavers. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), indicates that only 78,400 new formal jobs were created in the economy last year compared to 114,400 in 2017.

Several firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange announced early staff exit packages, citing tough business environment, further complicating outlook for those already employed.

Fresh graduates are generally viewed as lacking specialised market skills and experience to perform tasks, reducing their chances of getting direct employment after studies.

The number of vocational training centres in the country went up by 26.6 per cent to 1,502 last year while that of universities rose from 61 in to 63 during this period as more students enrolled for studies.

This potentially creates an increased level of joblessness in the economy unless the economy starts creating opportunities at a faster pace in both public and private sector.