Youth employment guarantee of country’s economic growth, MP says

YEREVAN, December 12. /ARKA/. The employment of young people is a guarantee of the country’s economic growth, said Chairman of the RA Parliamentary Standing Commission on Science and Youth Affairs Hranush Hakobian during the first national conference on the youth employment. “The youth employment is an issue of Armenia’s future development,” she said.

According to Hakobian, the issue should be considered from the viewpoint of global market economy. She believes business relations between economic entities and educational institutions are still weak. At present, Armenia’s universities do not follow modern economic trends while preparing future specialists, according to Hakobian. In Armenia, the triangle “market-economy-universities” is rather passive. “A research carried out a few years ago showed that about 25% of children of school-going age do not go to school,” she said.

Hakobian stated that the RA Government undertakes all the necessary measures to change the situation. Particularly, every year AMD 1bln is allocated from the state budget for specialized schools and colleges.

The Government also focuses on higher educational institutions and the best testimony of this is the adoption of the new RA Labor Code, according to Hakobian. She believes the Government should take a differentiated approach while solving the problems of the rural and urban youth, as well as take into account modern migration processes.

Hakobian pointed out that unemployed young people often face such problems as alcoholism, drug addiction and tobacco smoking.

According to the RA National Statistical Service (NSS), 799,361 people living in Armenia are at the age of 16-30 (24.3% of the population).

Armenia’s population totaled 3mln 226,700 on October 1, 2007 against 3mln 220,800 in the corresponding period in 2006. 84,000 Armenian citizens were unemployed in January-October 2007. Z. Sh. –0--