Former Health Minister Dr. Fuad Khan has called on Government to create employment opportunities for those with tertiary education in response to the report that hundreds of young graduates in the medical profession were finding difficulty in getting jobs.
"Anyone who visits the public hospital will know that there is a shortage of health professionals, so the fact that there are so many graduates who cannot find employment is insulting. But of course, some of these persons could find employment at the Couva Children's Hospital, if the PNM government ever decides to make it operational."
Khan, also Barataria MP, was responding to comments by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh that the ministry was trying to ensure that every intern in the system was employed, though he added some young doctors were unwilling to work in rural areas and wanted to be placed in the regional health authority of their choice.
Khan described as "startling" that it took Deyalsingh more than two years to come to the realisations about graduates in the health sector.
"It speaks to the mismanagement and misunderstanding of both the health and the education sectors when one considers the amount of time and resources that go into the training of these graduates, only to have them immediately join so many others in our society on the unemployment line."
He said as TT becomes a more educated society Government needed to create an environment that would allow this education to create new industry and growth.
"We cannot be living in a country where a BSC graduate might be working in a CEPEP gang, while someone with a Ph.D. is a cashier at a supermarket."