(Njogu wa Njeri is a columnist and trained journalist)
In the past few weeks, as is the norm around this time of the year, graduations by various universities have finally handed thousands of graduands the power to lead and serve.
The graduation day is often punctuated by excitement for accomplishing a major milestone in life.
However, while this is okay, the excitement does not match with practical skills and an overriding desire to leave a mark in the labour market.
This is the point where that degree or the diploma is of no much use if it cannot match the skills required in the labour market.
In today’s job market, most employers will attest to the fact that they receive countless applications from academically decorated applicants but very few match what is required in the practical world.
All they know is the theoretical application of ‘knowledge’ because cheating has now become part of the curriculum.
Every student dreams of going to the university and utterly disregards the main purpose of going there.
What most of our universities and colleges produce are party animals who utilise every available opportunity to squeeze all the fun out of campus life.
The value of education has been so much downgraded that it can be bought with anything. This is where the rain started beating us.
For the lucky half-baked graduates joining the job market, they quickly become a burden to the company that has offered them a job.
They can hardly work on any assigned task independently, even the simplest one without asking for assistance.
Oblivious of the number of skilled individuals without papers capable of delivering, the company keeps paying them although they are only as useful as the office furniture.
To remedy this, there is a need for change right from our education system to the hiring process because gone are the days when diplomas and degrees coupled with experience were the only requirements to get a job.
Experience, no matter how many years it spans over, is nothing if it’s not practically applied for the growth of the company.
In conclusion, how educated one is can best be measured by what they can do if all the academic certificates they hold were to be taken away from them.
#hivisasaoriginal