The cobbler graduate
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do
it with all your might, for in the graves where you are going, there is neither
working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Ecclesiastes 9:10
Being a good protégé is indisputably a humbling experience.
You get free advice on various issues that people face in their daily lives. It
is a pro-bono activity that only requires trust. People share their insights
and wealth of experiences objectively to inspire, warn or prepare others
against uncertainties and misfortunes they may encounter.
I recently had a conversation with a friend of a friend at
my favorite barber’s shop in town. His name is Jackson. Our discussion had no
defined topic and we generally talked about politics, county development
prospects, infidelity and the plight of job seekers in this nation.
Hopeless, disillusioned, demoralized are the words Jackson
used to describe the state of internal anguish present graduates painfully
endure. Dozens of tertiary educational institutions churn out hundreds fold of
professionals annually. They are bestowed with the power to read and write as
is the common mantra shouted out loud to them whenever they graduate. They walk
out anticipating a rather good job that would sustain in their charging new
environments. And of course they should, courtesy of their tutors’ daily
musings back in school, of waiting jobs.
Reality sinks in months later, after unsuccessively
traversing the town streets looking for jobs that no longer exist. Potential
employers earnestly advertise for vacancies, and comprehensively outline
prerequisite conditions. Scores of applicants virtually qualify, with one
limiting requirement that calls for work experience. This is the punch line!
Practice makes perfect, and it would have been the corporate interest of any
employer to offer this management training, supposedly, and mould them into personnel
befitting their technical standards.
The greatest reason prospective employers shun these beautiful
brains is not lack of positions, but a malicious, strategic indoor policy of
ignorance to their bids. Fresh graduates tick. And perhaps a sizeable chunk of
them would outdo their contemporaries in similar capacities at the corporate
world. I dare the devil for that! Practically, this joblessness predicament in
Kenya is generational. An Act of parliament a few years back extended civil
retirement age from comfortable fifty five years to rusty sixty years. In my
opinion, this was a misinformed and inconsiderate move especially in a baby-fed
economy like ours that boldly espouses the virtues of youth empowerment through
job creation. I respect skills of the old, yes, but I doubly respect the
updated, essential skills of the youth.
The wisdom of one’s mentors now sneaks in and cools down
what many call the `tarmacking’ pressures. “Let your dreams be bigger than your
fears. Live by choice, not by chance. Work to excel, not to compete. Choose to
listen to your inner voice,” a speaker would tell their audience.
Despite mentors’ therapeutic wisdom, many graduates still
succumb to the job hunting heat and revert to other ways in making ends meet.
The trend is worrying and may spell doom to the nation’s future specialists in
specific careers. Worse still, it is a bad precedent to the thousands of
aspiring learners whose dreams are anchored on success of current
professionals.
Education is an expensive affair and relevant academic
oversight authorities should ensure professional training is in sync with the
market demand for workforce. It’s derogating for tertiary institutions to
produce multiple thousands of skilled individuals, with no concrete assurances
for any meaningful employment. Integrating entrepreneurship courses in almost
all curriculum subjects may be the waited redeemer as most graduate ‘sufferers’
are realizing that business enterprise is the sacred tree that offers the
lasting olive branch.
The teacher who becomes a farmer; the lawyer who becomes a
businessman; the forester who becomes a banker; the cobbler graduate who
merchandises shoes soles; the political scientist who becomes a taxi driver;
the environmentalist who becomes a …..The cluster is in-exhaustive and the
truth must be told to all upcoming graduates on what tomorrow brings - The
truth that a smart degree or diploma is not guarantee to a dream job. The truth
that the phrase “jobs are waiting for you” is the only honest false an equally
despaired last result teacher would painstakingly impart to his students. The
truth that initiatives like `kazi kwa vijana’ and the maiden `Uwezo fund’ are
only created to hoodwink the youth in a dangerously capitalist nation.
It is an embarrassment to examine all scathing facts about
graduate miseries but the government must plan to embark on a critical reform
agenda and tackle youth unemployment. There is more hope in the future if
proper mechanisms are instituted and managed to place youth abilities where
they rightfully belong. We want to work, and we want to work on God’s chosen
careers. We want to work!
