Under a surprising turn of events, Donald Trump is now the President Elect of the USA. Amidst all the campaigning, media hype, and drama, it can be safely said that the election was primarily won on the Trump tide that promised to wash out unemployment and create new jobs for the people of America.

As the chaos settles down, let’s give a thought to why there are so many unemployed Americans. Is it because there are no jobs available? Is it the attitude of the people? Or is it simply the immigrants who are at fault? If you pick the third one, then you’re most likely wrong. I’ll tell you why in a moment.

Some Dismal Numbers

The stats released by The United States Department Of Education show that the college dropout rates in the USA are shockingly high at 41%. These are only the number of students who drop out of college; there are also a vast number of high school dropouts who do not even make it to college.

This goes to highlight why we are known as ‘The Dropout Factory’. Nearly 29.1 million Americans today do not hold a college degree. That’s huge for a superpower like the USA, and this in turn has opened up the doors of MNCs like Oracle, Microsoft, Google, etc., to highly talented individuals from abroad.   

The US employers will soon be facing labor shortages, as close to 1.2 million employees have been retiring annually over the last four years with no real increase in the number of fresh recruits to fill in these vacancies. The rising youth population that doesn’t qualify for the job requirements has caused a high unemployment rate of 10.30% as reported by The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in September 2016.

 

Are The Jobs Dead?

Let’s imagine that you own an Audi R8 and have all the money in the world. Now, would you simply exchange your car that’s in great condition for a cheaper one that’s low on quality? I presume you’d say no (unless you’re Robin Hood).

Everyone wants to have better things than what they already own and when you have excess money to spend, why would you hold back? Same goes for the employers too. Every business today has stiff competition that makes it tougher to survive in the growing markets. The employers want the best resources in their team who could deliver results and are worth the money they spend. So, they make sure that only the right candidates are hired who are perfect for the job and can help the business grow bigger in the long-run.

There are, in fact, so many jobs out there. As per the Labor Department, there were 5.8 million openings in July 2015. Employers are constantly looking for fresh graduates to fill in these positions. But the lack of proper qualification results in the jobs being outsourced to offshore firms who deliver the expected quality in their work. Still think the jobs are dead?  

What can be done?

As we can see, the competition out there is tough and It’s hard to get the job that you desire without having a proper qualification. We must learn from our mistakes and educate ourselves and the children of our country to bring down the unemployment rate. So let’s first try and understand our young population.  

There are broadly four types of students who drop out:

First, the dreamers (The ones with an urge to create the next big thing)

Second, the unfortunate (The ones who are disabled by birth or accident, and the ones who get exposed to drug abuse)

Third, the poor (The ones who cannot afford education)

Fourth, who don’t care (The ones for whom a college degree doesn’t matter, who travel and live life by the day and are not really excited by fixed jobs)  

USA is home to some of the best Colleges and Universities in the world and there must be a policy that puts students first and ensures that good education is accessible to everyone. Here are some basic tips to the new Government.

• Implement a Funding Model that is student-centered and covers the needs of the underprivileged students. This requires allocation and infusion of more funds into the education budget.
  
• In 2008, 47% of school dropouts said that they didn’t think the syllabus was interesting. Schools should make studying and understanding concepts easier by introducing online tools like StudyGuide, Cram, etc., that make learning more interactive and fun.
  
• Schools and colleges must get the parents involved by constantly communicating with them about the course requirements, schedules and engage active participation throughout their graduation.

• The education board must design a syllabus that develops an ‘entrepreneurial mentality’ among students right from school.

• Educational institutions must keep in mind the changing needs of the society and develop educational models and implement an innovative approach to adapt to this change.

• We must encourage more ‘knowledge partnerships’ between Universities and research programs and ensure that the required job skills are attained even before graduation.

• Design dual education models cum apprenticeship programs, and provide proper funding so that young people can easily access the jobs market.

Mr. Trump has a tough task up his sleeve to create jobs for everyone. His Government must focus on bringing down the school and college dropout rates to deliver what he has promised. Again, it’s not just the responsibility of the government but every individual to stand up and work together to Make America Great Again.

 

Author Bio:

Ethan Miller is a private ESL tutor. Apart from his passion for teaching, he loves to write and holds a degree in creative writing. When he is not teaching or writing his book, Miller loves to blog and is a huge fan of educational technology. You can also check out his blog.

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Daniel & David

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      Creating Jobs: Why President Trump Should Target the Dropout Rates