It's sad to see many graduates and certificate holders in Africa and Nigeria in particular are becoming progressively poorer because they lack the necessary skills needed to function in the modern world, which unfortunately is not taught in schools. Making it in today's world is beyond certificates and degrees and many graduates and degree holders lack the required skills to break past the poverty horizon. In this blog post, we will explore some reasons why most graduates in Africa are poor, and what needs to be done to step out of the poverty horizon.
A lack of preparation for the modern world
Getting a good job today is quite different from what it used to be in the past. Certificates or degrees has little or nothing to do with getting a good job. Skills, knowledge, and creativity are what is needed to get a good job in the modern world. Unfortunately, our graduates and degree holders aren't prepared for the modern world. The education received cannot be translated to real-life experiences, hence they become progressively poorer.
Many graduates are only equipped with skills and innovation found only in the classroom. They become a misfit in an ever-changing world. All they ever work for while in school was getting good grades. Skills like critical thinking, creativity, people’s skill, Coding, complex problem-solving skills, etc. that are central to living a more comprehensive and productive life were never their concern.
The reality is that they soon come out of school to face a different world entirely. This, in most cases, leads to frustration, and if not checkmated could cause depression that may eventually lead to suicide.
Placing too much value on paper qualifications
Today's graduates placed so much value on their certificates. They don't think beyond their grades and paper qualifications, and to make it worst they see their certificates as a ticket to wealth in life. But unfortunately, this is not how the world function.
Having a certificate does not guarantee anyone a wealthy position in life because "Education is more than learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think" ( Albert Einstein). This is one of the reasons why most graduates and degree holders are poor. They can't see beyond their certificates. If the certificate was acquired in banking is either they work in the banking sector or nothing else. They can't think out of the box. I have seen graduates in engineering work as bankers. Architect with great skills in web and graphic design. You need to develop skills outside your primary area of study. Explore opportunities, that's what education is all about.
The basic truth is that the skills and creativity that are needed to be successful in life are not found within the wall of a classroom. Placing all your thoughts on your certificate hinders you from possibilities.
Prioritizing certificate over talents
Again, when you look at it critically you will discover that graduates today prioritize their certificates more than their talents as though without certificates they can't live. Whether employed or not we need to learn to discover and nurture those talents and giftedness buried in us.
The search for a job must not replace the pursuit of your passion. Leaving your gifts or talents dormant while pursuing or hunting for jobs with your certificates can only keep you in stagnation. Discover and nurture your passion while searching for a job.
If a job comes take it and work on it together with your talents and passion. Should there be no job, your talents are enough to sustain you, and guess what, you can even do better pursuing your passion than being in a paid job. Living a fulfilled life required that we work more on our talents than our jobs.
Not taking opportunities outside the regular 9-5 jobs
Being poor is an indication that you have passed over opportunities several times. Opportunities that a person seized are what keeps him ahead in life. Unfortunately, certificates and degrees close many graduates' minds to seeing opportunities passing. Jobs are scarce but not opportunities, people only need to discover them. As long as there's a problem to be solved, there will always be opportunities.
As I always tell people, we do not go to school so that we can be employed. It will be a waste of time and resources if after we graduate from school all that we think about is how to be moving from one city to another and from one office to another in search of a job that we are never prepared for. An enlightened and educated mind should be able to see and seize opportunities.
In conclusion, I will like to state here that it is forecasted that by 2025, we’ll lose over five million jobs to robots. This means that the job sector in the future will look very different when many people graduate from college.
It is my humble advice that people should learn to think beyond school education and to think deep and wide, try things outside their professional field, take volunteer jobs, and not be afraid to take risks. Continue reading and expanding your knowledge, this will help you to adapt to the changes in the world. And to cap it up, do not be afraid to invest in something you believe in.