TIMES HAVE CHANGED a lot and almost everyone now wants to make it to university for the sake of being referred to as a graduate at the end of their course. However this same trend has also seen the rise in a high number of ‘qualified’ people who can barely get a job after school. So how do we reconcile such a scenario? How do we teach our children that not making it to university is not the end of the world? Well the secret in my view is in imparting entrepreneurial skills at an early stage. The good thing is that already the school curriculum now has a component of entrepreneurship and focused students can pick enough lessons. The main reason people clamour to make it to the university is usually to get a certificate that they assume will better their chances for employment. On the other hand entrepreneurship skills are designed to help one think of creating a job for themselves instead of photocopying CVs and walking from one office to another in search of a job. Armed with these skills and the right attitude, students should simply focus on how they can start up something small to do with their little resources and time. The right attitude here means you do not look down upon any kind of work. Some of the people you think are doing ‘lousy’ jobs are indeed earning a lot while at it. It is important to remember that it is much easier to move from a lousy job to a better one than from sitting at home. In other words you need to start working even if it means volunteering or working for very little money. What counts is that you do a neat job in whatever you do. You can be noticed by someone else and they reward you with a better opportunity. Finishing secondary school should not mean that destiny is university or misery. Instead it should be university or you think of anything you want to do as a business since many such projects do not require you to have a university certificate. Students should be able to put in practice what they were taught in school by going out in the world and trying their hands at anything. Rwanda cannot develop if we sit back and whine about not making it to the university. So do not despair for at the end of the day, hard work is the most important factor in life.