WHAT HAPPENS TO GRADUATES?

Sir,

I would like to first congratulate all those young people who worked hard in school to the point where they ended up graduating. I usually make criticism wherever it is necessary and sometimes I am forced to do so because I am a taxpayer in this country. Some of these things that we write about affect our lives, so we cannot turn a blind eye.

The economy is not growing and the rate at which young people join the labour market after graduating is worrying because the unemployment level is very high.
Graduates are struggling out there and the reason is the slow economic growth. Some of them have good CVs but they are sitting at home. Parents celebrate when these young people get their degrees and other qualifications but the celebration is short-lived because of the lack of jobs. It makes me ask myself a lot of questions when I look at the manner in which graduates struggle to get jobs.

Does the job market still need them? The country is suffering and there are many challenges including how Asians come and take over the little business opportunities that these young people should explore.

The truth of the matter is that our graduates are not guaranteed  jobs. This is a sad scenario because as far as I am concerned, education should not leave families worse off than they were before but it should help improve their standard of living.

Now, for the country to answer on what should happen to the graduates after graduating, there is a need to look at the challenges that are there. Firstly, most of the young people go to tertiary institutions and study courses which are already hugely covered and there are not enough jobs available for them.
What this means therefore is that we need to introduce courses that will sell in the market. You cannot be having a whole class studying law when we already have too many lawyers who are fighting to get clients from the population of less than two million.

Let us introduce more courses that will ensure that young people graduate in courses that will make them get qualifications in starting their own businesses. It is these same businesses that will assist in the alleviation of poverty because once they open them, they will then hire some of the citizens who are at home doing nothing due to lack of jobs.

Right now government wants past beneficiaries to pay back scholarship loans and you wonder how it expects that to be possible when most of the graduates either do not have jobs or are earning meager salaries.

Edwin Dlamini
Sandlane

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