Turn These Holidays into a Launchpad: How Teenagers or Youths Can Learn a Skill or Start a Business
By Dickson Tumuramye
Every year, when schools close for the holidays, a familiar scene plays out across Uganda. Our children sleep in late, spend hours on their phones, and drift through the weeks with little to show for it by the time school resumes. But what if this holiday season were different? What if, instead of idling away precious time, our young people used these weeks to build something, a skill, a habit, or even a small business? This is what even the new curriculum is all about. Children should be great thinkers and innovators, and school holidays can be an avenue to practice what they learn from school.
The school holiday is not a gap in a teenager's life. It is an opportunity, arguably one of the greatest they will have before adult responsibilities close in. With no classes, no exams, and flexible time, a determined young person can accomplish more in six weeks than they realise. The question is not whether there is time. There is. The question is whether we, parents, guardians, and the teenagers themselves, will use it wisely.
Why
Skills Matter More Than Ever
Uganda has
one of the youngest populations in the world. That is both a blessing and a
challenge. Thousands of young people will enter a competitive job market in the
coming years, and academic certificates alone will not be enough. Employers and
customers increasingly value practical skills; the ability to do something
useful, solve a real problem, or create value. A teenager or a youth who learns
a skill today is investing in a future that the classroom alone cannot fully
prepare them for.
Fortunately,
the options are wider than most teenagers imagine. Skills can be digital —
graphic design, video editing, social media management, coding, or online
freelancing. They can be hands-on like tailoring, baking, hairdressing,
carpentry, or crafts. They can be service-oriented, such as tutoring younger
children, event ushering, car washing, or delivery errands. The starting point
is not money or connections. It is the willingness to learn.
Starting
Small: The Holiday Business Idea
Many of
Africa's most successful entrepreneurs started with nothing more than a simple
idea and the courage to try. A teenager/youth does not need a business plan or
startup capital to begin. They need observation; what does my neighbourhood
need? What service are people paying for? A young person who notices that homes
in their area need cleaning, that children need tutoring, or that people want
fresh juice and snacks in the morning has already done half the work. This
means that they are now transferring their school knowledge into practice. They
are becoming researchers and thinkers outside the box to solve societal
problems.
One teenager
in Kampala recently spent her holiday baking mandazi and selling them to
neighbours. By the end of the holiday, she had earned enough to buy her own
school supplies, and more importantly, she had discovered that she could create
income with her own hands. That confidence is priceless. Another young man used
free online tutorials to learn basic graphic design and created logos for small
businesses in his community. He charged modest fees, built a portfolio, and
returned to school with a skill he continues to use. Even on campus now, this
business has sustained him, but it started when he was in high school on his
own.
The
Role of Parents and Guardians
Parents must
not be passive during this season. Rather than simply monitoring screen time or
worrying about bad company, get involved. Ask your child what they are curious
about. Take them to a market, a workshop, or a family business and let them
observe how things work. Introduce them to someone in a trade or profession
they admire. A conversation with a mentor can spark a fire that lasts a
lifetime. This is what competency-based education is all about – a child who
can do something practical on their own.
It is also
important to let teenagers make small mistakes in a safe environment. If a
young person tries to sell something and fails, do not mock them. Help them
understand why, and encourage them to try again. Entrepreneurship is learned
through experience, not lectures. The holiday season offers that experience
without the high stakes of adult life.
A
Word to the Teenagers and Youth
To every
young person reading this: the world does not wait for anyone. The friends who
will lead industries, start companies, and shape communities in ten years are
not waiting for the perfect moment. They are using the time they have right
now. You do not need to start something big. Start something real. Learn one
skill. Offer one service. Read one book about business or a craft that
interests you. Take one step.
When school
resumes, let your holiday story be one of growth, not just rest. Let it be the
story of the holiday you built something. That is a story worth telling. Take
time to learn a skill every holiday. You don’t have to waste your time on
social media, where you don’t learn anything that can be useful in your life.
Your parents
may not know what you want. But beyond academics, there is a passion or an
interest you have in something. Share that idea with them and ask how you can
grow or expand it into something tangible, a business idea, or do something
that can earn you an income, help the community, add a skill to you, and allow
you to be very productive every holiday or even at school.
The writer is the Executive Director of Hope Regeneration Africa,
Parenting Coach, Marriage Counselor, and Founder — Men of Purpose Mentorship
Program.
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