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What ails the majority of Sri Lanka’s Graduates?

Shenali Waduge

The demand by graduates for jobs signals clearly that the education system of Sri Lanka has been a failure.

Sri Lanka’s offer for free education meant that anyone irrespective of caste or creed was entitled to education. It was not clearly communicated to these graduates that free education did not guarantee employment. Yet these youth were easy prey to politicos who found it easy to promise jobs for their vote. Why have youth become so gullible?

Most university entrants are from remote Sri Lanka who has gained entry to university as a result of the cut-off systems that compromise the lack of facilities given to these areas. The urban youth gaining higher marks yet unable to seek entrance because of the cut-off systems end up going to foreign shores for foreign education or enrolling for a professional qualification. Their home support systems well in place to provide the needed guidance to start off their careers.

Yet one would expect the students entering university to build upon their academic qualifications & realistically prepare themselves to face the open society which they are quire aware that one day they would have to walk into. Surely three to fours years of university education should have prepared these youngsters to build the confidence & soft skills to apply for a job to kick-start their careers. Do they need to be repeatedly told that corporate Sri Lanka needs men & women who are good in spoken & written English? They should not wallow in books & lectures simply to wake up after their final exams to the realization that they would need a job to compliment their certificate? What free education has in fact imparted has been lethargy on the part of these students to bravely face interviews, accept rejections but still maintain their motivation & resolve to secure a good job & commence a good future but most of all to become good citizens.

Having to view scores of educated yet unemployed youth being tear-gased is a sorry sight. Yet, despite the compassion it also reveals their weakness to withstand the pressures of society. In a society where stiff competition persists any graduate must be able to rise above such pressures. They should not demand that the Government provide them jobs as well. But we can well see their torment which boils down to economic difficulties since most come from not so well-to-do homes.

What private sector employees today look for above the popular school syndrome is people who have a fighting spirit, able to take challenges, possess creative thinking skills, have a good vocabulary & display good manners & people who do not have the 9 to 5 mentality. With electronic & print media making these resume needs clear all graduates should while spending time in their graduate syllabus try to work upon their weaknesses & build up their strengths. They should not be just spending time on lectures & sitting for mid-term exams. Through the 3 or 4 years of higher education they must think of their career path & try to see their options as well.

However, the fault does not necessarily lie with the students alone. Keeping to ancient syllabuses hardly prepares any student to face the competition outside the university environs & very few constructive programs have been initiated by the Higher Education Ministry to help these students. An effort by the Government authorities perhaps calling upon the private sector to also unite in this effort would have helped the students understand what is likely to be in store for them & how they should get prepared as well. Some preparation programs can easily be launched with the assistance of the private sector & programs should also be launched to introduce more vocational programs as well.

Having said that, graduates must remember that people judge their maturity by their behavior & not the certificates on their resume. There have been many instances of the private sector giving jobs to graduates under the Tharuna Aruna program & very few of them have made use of the golden opportunity given to climb the corporate ladder. Ask most corporate houses today & they would agree that most graduates are concerned about their job status & remunerations rather they proving what they are capable of doing first. Is this also the fault of the education system or the individual? The debate will continue but a lot of the responsibility also lies in the individual who should realistically view what he needs to develop to secure a good future for himself. No graduate should wait for opportunities to be given on a silver platter.

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