What to consider before you choose a programme

By end of August this year, students across East Africa and Rwanda in particular will be preparing to join University for the first time to pursue their further studies. For some, mostly the crème de la crème shall be sponsored by the State while others may have no choice but seek sponsorship from parents or guardians. So irrespective of the nature of sponsorship, most universities set minimum requirements for one to be admitted to a particular program. I shall not go into those details because they are clearly elaborated by individual universities and I am sure most students or parents can access such information.Recently I have had two experiences that have inspired me to write this article and share with parents and students. The first one is about a young man I met recently at some health club in town. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, I got to learn that he isn’t happy with where he is studying from and the program he is pursuing because his father based these two choices purely on religious reasons which by the way is his right to do so! The second is from interaction with my students at campus. After asking a couple of students why they choose to study that particular program each one told me and I quote “that’s what I was told to study”! The above two examples and many others out there show that students or parents don’t pay particular attention to certain considerations when choosing a course to study at university.Clearly there is no particular course that suits everyone so I shall not specify any but highlight some issues one should consider. The most important consideration in my opinion should be based on the talents possessed by your child or subjects that interest your child. Experience and research show that people who choose courses that continue to develop their talents tend to be successful and innovative in their respective fields. This is because this inborn gift once identified breeds passion within an individual and hence a desire to excel. This can be seen in sports, the arts like music and acting, also those who are gifted with their hands would be good in computer science and all engineering disciplines for example. Sometimes parents have wasted a lot of resources and time of the students to sponsor them for courses that they don’t like. The end result has been for those particular students to drop everything after school and follow their passions. Such examples abound in our communities!Parents or students should also endeavor to find out what graduates of the course that you are interested in do after school. Are they employed only because they did that course or perhaps they might have taken additional courses after school? For example some students have ended up not becoming advocates because of failing bar exams even when they have graduated with a law degree!The ability of your child to manage the academic demands of a particular programme should also be looked into otherwise the student ends up being miserable all his/her university life because of challenges in class. This in turn affects his/her overall performance and the chances of employability. Consideration must also be made about the changing dynamics of the current and future job market. This is because a particular course may or may not be marketable now but what about in five years’ time when your child will be graduating. If possible one must find out if that particular program is designed to provide you with the necessary skills to get you the job you want. This is sometimes hard to determine but one can observe what happens to graduates of such a program. And above all the issues mentioned here, it would also be informative for parents/ students to find out more about the universities of their choice.After all is said and done, it is important to remember that education, like all other investments, is a risky venture. Everyone, save for a few if any study with a hope of getting a job someday and earn a living from the skills acquired. It is quite disheartening for one to pursue a particular program without due considerations as the end result could be failure to get a job. This risk must be minimized as much as possible by interested parties taking precautions before making an almost life time commitment.The writer is a lecturer in the department of Civil Engineering at INES-Musanze