As a student, when you focus on certificate rather than skill, you are doomed because you will end up becoming un-employable graduate. To survive in the life after school, you need more than what is taught in the class; because, certificates is not enough. Robert Kiyasaki wrote:
Once we leave school, most of us know that it is not as much matter of college degrees or good grades that count. In the real world outside of academics, something more than just grades is required. I have heard it called “gutz” “chutzpah” “balls” “audacity” “bravado” “cunning” “daring” “tenacity” and “brilliance.” This factor, whatever it is labelled, ultimately decides one’s future much more than school grades.
There’s no escaping the fact that the prospect of leaving university and finding a job can be scary, especially in a country like Nigeria under a system of education that gives premium to grades. I have always been conscious of my employability but had never taken it to be something I could compare with my grade in school since the ‘first class and the second class’ of a thing is what rings in our heads most, as students. However, I was awaken to the reality that I needed to work more on my employability than the ‘class’ stuff after a was denied of a SIWES placement in a media outlet that was to be paying me, for lack of Photo Editing skill. Of course, as a mass communication student, I should know the rudiments of photo editing with its applicability but I can only boast of it on papers because I was not exposed to the practical in school and I never took my time to develop myself on it and now it counted against me.
With mechanization and technology, human roles are now being performed by computers and machines. The more roles allocated to machines the less humans are needed. With these, only proficient, vibrant, creative and unique graduates are absorbed.
According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, N.B.S, about 1.8 million graduates are been churned into the labor market annually by the Nigerian universities. Unfortunately, few out of these many graduates are employable. That is, they have something other than the certificates everyone has. These ones must have looked beyond the class room while others remained strictly to the class affairs and by implication, suppressing the creativity in them.
The school system we inherited from our former colonial rulers lays emphases on writing, reading and arithmetic rather than invention, creation and innovation, thus, many end up becoming job seekers instead of job creators and job getters. To correct this, students should think outside the (school) box, because after school, the question will change from ‘what is your qualification?’ to, ‘what can you do for us?’
A graduate is supposed to be either self-employed or been employed by a public or private establishment. Anything short of these is an indication that he/she never reasoned beyond the class room. He/she is certificate oriented and life after school does not welcome that. Therefore, he/she is Un-employable Graduate which means that the individual has certificate but does not have the qualities or skills required for the field work. Mark Twain once said that he never allows schooling to interfere with his education. That is to say, there is a difference between going to school and been educated. Only educated graduates are employable. So, why many graduates are un-employed is because they are not employable.
If we have skilled and efficient graduates, there could hardly be a reason why any Nigerian company would be flooding their key and technical positions with expatriates. Because, any reason why someone should go out of his/her house to get somebody to fix something for him or her for a pay, should be that he or she does not have anyone in his or her house who can fix that thing perfectly.
It is high time for us, African students, especially Nigerians, to change our pattern of education which is certificates focused to skill acquisition and ability to put in practice whatever they go to school to study. Study what you can practice and not just the certificate.
According to Federal Ministry of Education, 69% of the Nigerian graduates give “there is no job” as their major reason for being unemployed. Beyond every reasonable doubt, it is very true that people are being employed every day in Nigeria. But not people with just certificates. Rasaq Okoya said “I have nothing against education but at times education gives people false confidence. It makes people relax, trusting in the power of their certificates rather than in working hard.’’In corroboration with Okoya, Prof. Ablator Sedofia from the University of Ghana also affirmed that;
“Academic excellence is overrated! Did I just say that? Oh, yes, I said it. Being top of your class does not necessarily guarantee that you will be at the top of life. You could graduate as the best student in Finance but it doesn’t mean you will make more money than everybody else. The best graduating Law student does not necessarily become the best lawyer. The fact is life requires more than the ability to understand a concept memorize it and reproduce it in an exam.
School rewards people for their memory. Life rewards people for their imagination and innovations. School rewards caution, life rewards daring. School hails those who live by the rules. Life exalts those who break the rules and set new ones. So do I mean people shouldn’t study hard in school? Oh, no, you should. But don’t sacrifice every other thing on the altar of First Class. Don’t limit yourself to the classroom’’.
Finding a job is a job itself. Creativity is the key, skill is the way. School is very important. Certificate is necessary but beyond the class room, creativity takes pre-eminence.
– Onoja Johnson Baba
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A 400 level student of Mass Communication, Kogi State University, Anyigba.
