The importance of generating opportunities for citizens to participate in the development of self
and country cannot be exaggerated. Employment is usually the main way in which people
contribute to the economic growth of a country. Work is an essential part of human life that
helps in determining, among other things, one‟s social status. Therefore, it is important that at a
certain stage in life one should acquire a job. The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
(2008) notes that at some point in their lives youths will enter the world of work as a path
toward social integration and as a means to earn an income. Youth unemployment has
progressively emerged as a major problem in many developing countries and the world at large.
For many youths entry into the labour market comes directly after completing school,
depending on the schools‟ exit points of the particular country. Botswana‟s Secondary School
education, which is completed in five years, has two exit points. The Junior Certificate (JC)
runs for three years, and those who do not pass exit after Form 3. The Botswana General
Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) takes two years and the exit point is Form 5 for
those who do not qualify to proceed to the tertiary level.