Allow me to express my views on the increasing unemployment rates among graduates. Almost every year, our nation receives thousands of graduates with various qualifications from our three biggest universities. 

Out of more than a thousand graduates, only a handful gets employed, sending the rest into the streets.

 It does not stop there; the following year, universities receive thousands of undergraduate students, who are expected to obtain their qualifications after a period of time as outlined in their course of study. They say “the joy of being admitted at university is sweet but the sadness of being at home, roaming in the dirty streets with your qualification, is bitter”. 

In my view, our nation is failing the youth – graduates specifically, though it is said the future of this nation depends on the youth. If the youth do not have jobs, there will be no political and economic empowerment for the youth. How then do you expect the future of these people to be better? It is one of these reasons we have few people studying courses such as software engineering and biochemistry – just to mention a few; people have a fear of not securing employment after their studies.

Nowadays, the teaching profession has become the leading in terms of the number of unemployed graduates, the elimination of diplomas in pre- and junior primary education at Unam seems to have lessened the competition, but how is the future of the diploma graduates who were denied the opportunity to articulate to a bachelor honours degree in junior primary? Will they be able to stand chances to secure employment in this time of lack of job opportunities? 

There is a saying that “Connection is better than qualifications”. 

I do not know how true this can be – but at times, graduates complain about the lack of transparency in an interview setting. 

At times, preference is given to a candidate of the location more specifically in the rural areas where most of the school board members are uneducated. 

This sort of appointment practice punishes qualified candidates just because they belong to a different social group.

Let’s end favouritism and nepotism; together we can build a greater nation.