| Abstract: | Due to poor economic condition coupled with rapid population growth, inadequate Government and family
support and lack of access to resources, the Ethiopian Youth is confronted with massive unemployment
problem. In fact, this chronic problem is aggravated by the mismatch between the type of
education/training on one hand, and the labour market on the other. Although, the magnitude and extent of
unemployment is not fully known according to CSA (1999), unemployment seems to be more of an urban
problem, where the rate is five times higher than that of the rural areas. The incidence of unemployment
also differs between sexes. In urban areas a significant proportion of unemployed female population
(34.0%) was reported as compared to males (18.3%). The above pattern also holds true for the rural areas
where 8.6% of female and 2.4% of male propulation were reported to be unemployed.
In connection to this reality, the educational and training program rendered by Private Higher Education
Institutions (PHEIs) in the country has greater role to empower and enable the youth to be self-supportive,
capable of contributing their share of responsiblility for the betterment of the society and productive
citizens. In view of this, the study aimed at showing the linkage between education and employment, and
more importantly, the role of PHEIs in mitigating urban youth unemployment. To achieve the stated
objectives, data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through
structured interview with 100 randomly selected students from St. Mary's College and from 10 employer
organizations that are selected purposively. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics.
The preliminary findings of the study indicated that PHEIs in Ethiopia are playing great role in meeting the
needs of educated manpower. They are also found to meet the educational needs of the youth, who are
unable to join the public higher education institutions. The growth and expansion of PHEIs has also created
employment opportunities for many young people looking for jobs. |
