Give Graduates a Chance
PLEASE allow me space in your esteemed newspaper to state a very crucial issue. The unemployment rate in Namibia has been reported to be 51.2 percent and I am sure that figure or percentage includes those graduates without jobs. Time and time again it has been said that graduates lack experience and hence they potentially lose out on jobs because of this.
The fact is they are being discriminated against because they do not have work experience, that is really unfair to say the least. Most graduates spend sleepless nights working hard on assignments, studying for tests and exams to complete and pass their studies with the dream of joining the workforce in order to meaningfully contribute to the economic growth and development of this country.
That dream is cut short when most cannot get jobs because no organisation or company is prepared to give them a chance, due to the years of experience required in whatever field it may be.
My question is, those who are employed today with years of extensive work experience, were they born with experience? Was anybody born with work experience in this country? Did they not gain it after they were fortunate enough to get a job somewhere? What policy has government put in place to ensure that graduates upon graduating are absorbed into the workforce? Do the government and the private sector even care about this situation facing graduates or how frustrating and depressing it can be for graduates? What is even more astonishing is the fact that Namibia has a small population of about 2,1 million people and yet with such a high unemployment rate.
Minister of Education Abraham Iyambo has encouraged and urged the learners in primary and secondary schools to study hard for their final exam and pass with good grades, particularly the grade 10 and 12 learners. What good is it if those in grade 12 pass and get admission to varsities, study, complete and graduate just to join the pool of unemployed graduates, together with other unemployed people on the streets? What purpose does it serve if I spend money and time, for four years getting an education at University while there are no prospects of employment upon graduating?
I would like to urge employers to realise that graduates are not stupid, they know a whole lot more beyond what has been taught to them in a lecture room and most can certainly learn to master and adapt to the activities pertaining to the job that needs to be done.
All you have to do is give them a chance for them to prove their worth and competence in the work environment. Government must also urgently come up with policies that can make it easier for graduates to lend jobs without extensive work experience which is always required and but which graduates lack, because no employer is willing to give them a chance.
That chance as little as it may be, can be the chance of a lifetime for that graduate.
Eliezser Vante-Kavela
By email