WHY IT BECOMES DIFFICULT TO DEFEND OUR DEGREES

 We are living in a fast paced generation where there is a lot of information especially on the internet. In the past when there was only one university in Uganda, Makerere University, it was very prestigious to be educated. Today with over 50 universities and producing over 400,000 graduates amidst a job creation of about 90,000 jobs per year there is an unemployment crisis. Universities and government are doing their best to address the challenge of youth unemployment with innovative strategies but a lot needs to be done.

I have a privilege of either mentoring university graduates and I interact with them regularly through financial literacy training. The youths are an interesting lot. They present a lot of energy and are the future leaders of this nation. In the process of mentoring them I have made an observation that some of them do not know the clear purpose of why they are at university. I have noticed that some of them are more interested in getting the degree with out comprehending what is being taught. My outlook towards university education changed when I read Ambrose Kibuuka's book called After University What Next? This book challenges a university graduate to critically examine the reason why the are studying. There is a bigger reason why you are at that Ivory Tower apart from passing the tests and exams. The question that I pose to students who are pursuing Entrepreneurship and Business Administration is that why should they fail to get jobs? I have looked at some of the course units taught in Business Administration Course and Iam envious of today's university students. In his book, Ambrose notes that even one course unit can create a job for a university student. The biggest challenge is that the current crop of university students prefer ready made jobs like in MTN and Airtel. The reality is that the competition for those jobs is very tight. Rather what the economy demands today are critical thinkers who analyze the challenges communities are facing and create solutions for these problems.

Even interviewers today are placing less attention on the grades of a graduate and are focusing on the attitude, team work and ability of the candidates to solve problems. It seems university lecturers have focused on hard skills than soft skills and this means we have graduates who find it hard to relate with others and to communicate well. In a recent media publication there was a story of about 500,000 graduates who are riding boda bodas. It means in the grand scheme of things that there are so many graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed.


HOW TO DEFEND OUR DEGREES

1.We must have clear vision for the future

2.Career guidance is very important from primary up to university

3.Personal discovery is key.

4.Vocational education. A university graduate should also enroll for a vocational course

5.Youths should travel to gain exposure

6.Youths should form think tanks that enable them to craft solutions to social problems

7.Voluntary work is key

8.Service first mentality is important. We are living in a generation where the youths especially graduates are more interested in money than gaining experience first.

9.Mentorship and coaching 

10. University graduates should be life long learners. Some of them even burn their books after graduation.

It is an achievement for any one to graduate. University is not an  easy place. But beyond celebrating the degree can we defend the grades in the real world of work? Can we use the education got to solve social problems as proposed above?

Phillip Kiryowa

Personal Finance Coach

Advanced Empowerment Link

+256752615916

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