Graduations have lost their glory due to scarcity of jobs

The past few days have been bittersweet for Kenyans who got to the end of the 8:4:4 curriculum by graduating from universities and colleges. If you're on social media and there was none on your timeline, you're probably not in Kenya. It's a sweet moment to accomplish anything and attaining a degree is the aim of many when starting out in the education journey.

Graduating is such a big thing that one prospective graduand is said to have committed suicide when he discovered he was not on the graduation list over missing marks. However, graduating in Kenya is also a bitter moment when reality dawns that the graduates will be joining a long list of previous graduates who are yet to even figure out what to with their papers in a country with no jobs. 

Take the case of prospective teachers. In Kenya, they are made to pick a TSC number and then wait for years before they can officially be employed. At least, for them, the structures give them a bit of hope that some years down the line, their chance will come. For other careers, it is a gamble. This was not always the case. A university degree was the ticket out of poverty for most people up to the 90s. When you are with the older generation, they will narrate how some were poached from the lecture halls before they could complete their degrees. 

On graduation, one was sure of a job and a good salary that was good enough. Elder children educated their younger children using their HELB cash which they called ‘boom’. For that reason, the journey out of poverty began with a university admission. That could explain why relatives and friends trooped in their hundreds to graduation squares to witness their own being given the ‘powers to read’. 

The excitement has been withered down by the gloomy state of things. The onus is on the government to create an environment where everyone can thrive. For example, they are millions of opportunities in agri-business but lack of market and storage facilities continues to cause investors in the sector great losses. Our supermarket shelves should gotten of imports that can be produced in Kenya so as to create room for value addition. Let Kenyans consume what they produce. They are enough skilled jua kali artisans to give us what we need. They are enough producers of raw materials to sustain the manufacturing sector.

Large scale manufacturers should create room for small scale suppliers. Small scale suppliers can combine efforts and get contacts. They are opportunities in the digital economy. Opportunities for work are now available online. Most importantly, corruption must end. 

Writer is an anchor at Radio Maisha