Universities' unwanted graduates

With the Pope in the US, President Barack Obama hosting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and 193 world leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters for the 70th General Assembly, Washington and New York proved this week that they’re the world’s power capitals. American politicians are thick skinned battle-hardened fellows but it was shocking to hear that US House Speaker John Boehner, will resign from his leadership position at the end of October, giving in to critics of his leadership who have previously called for his resignation. Boehner is a staunch catholic and is behind the invitation of Pope Francis to the US; his resignation announcement reportedly came while praying on Friday morning - a day after hosting the Pope at Congress where he said ‘America is home of the free and land of the brave.’ The Pontiff is also a brave man who, despite his celebrity status, chose to drive not in one of America’s ‘monstrous power cars’ like the ones that excited Kenyans during Obama’s visit, but rather made a modest entry in a tiny Italian made auto-mobile, a black Fiat. Still related to matters of religious faith is the depressing news of the over 700 Muslims killed while on Pilgrimage in Mecca. How lugubrious! A stampede!? Frankly, something doesn’t add up about this whole thing of a stampede. According to most media accounts, it occurred when one group of believers moving from one direction met with another group coming from the opposite direction. But for people who I imagine were not running from some kind of danger, but rather walking gracefully on holy land, it’s baffling that a stampede that deadly could ensue to claim hundreds of lives. Yet I know that Muslims the world over work hard to not die before visiting Mecca; it’s therefore a bit of a paradox how one is expected to react to news of hundreds of believers dying on holy soil; nonetheless, may their souls rest in eternal peace. To home affairs now; I am profoundly grateful to the government for its decision to pay the medical bills of my friend and colleague, Edmund Kagire who is now set to travel to India for cancer treatment; as one of those behind the campaign to raise US$23,000 that he needed, the announcement from the government was a major relief. Thank you. Procrastination is a thief of time so back to the central theme of this commentary; earlier last month, Earnest & Young, one of the UK’s largest graduate recruiters, announced it’s to remove degree requirements from the entry criteria for its hiring programmes. The decision was inspired by recent studies that found “no evidence” that success at university was correlated with achievement in professional qualifications. A good example for E&Y’s rather revolutionary decision came to me on Thursday morning in form of a Mass Communication student at a local privately owned university based in Kigali. We were discussing a business story with a colleague, when one of our junior journalists walked to us and introduced the student who immediately started pleading with us that we help him ‘get a by-line in our newspaper.’ Apparently, the boy, who was dressed like a poet is a finalist who’s awaiting graduation. That although he has specialised in public relations, the university requires every student to have an article published in a major newspaper as a pre-condition to graduate. “I am not interested in writing, I don’t know how, I have never done so, all I need is for you guys to help me and get a by-line so that I graduate,” he pleaded. Three years in journalism school and the soon to be graduate can’t even write a simple article? What are these universities teaching, like really? Mind you, the junior journalist who introduced this student to us, is just in his senior six vacation but he so far has several articles under his name yet here was a soon to be graduate who was willing to pay money to just have his name appear in a newspaper in exchange for a certificate. He will soon raid companies with his degree asking employers for a job as a public relations manager, his area of specialisation. But imagine, a PR officer that can’t write, how will he write press releases? What annoyed me most about the student was that he had not an ounce of passion for the profession he had spent three years in college learning. I chose to read journalism at university and my first article appeared in The New Vision while in Senior two, it was a letter to the editor. Anyway, we gave the boy some practical story ideas to go work on but a few hours later; he sent a press release on the ‘international day for the total elimination of nuclear weapons’ clearly lifted from the internet but with his name on it. So E&Y is right. If these are the kind of graduates universities are churning out, then no sensible employer surely needs them. No wonder, there is 7 percent unemployment among graduates. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Universities' unwanted graduates