Commisioner for International Commission on Global Education Opportunity, Jakaya Kikwete, has warned of massive job losses in developing countries if they do not improve their education system.
Kikwete, who is also former president of Tanzania, said this at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe yesterday during his visit to Malawi in his capacity as commissioner for the education commission.
According to him, about two billion jobs world over will be lost, especially in the developing world because of education systems that do not equip learners with skills needed on the job market.
Said Kikwete: “The job market will require people with high levels of skills,so if people from low-income countries won’t acquire these skills, they will be greatly affected.”
He also urged developed countries to intervene in education financing, saying the countries are too poor to fund certain things in the education sector.
Kikwete also said there is need for countries to work extra hard in the education sector because the level at which the developing countries are today is where the developed world was about 70 years ago.
In his remarks, President Peter Mutharika acknowledged that education is the key to development and good future of any nation, saying: “Education is a tool for creating the future of any society. Our destiny and the destiny of our children, lies in what we do in education today.” n
