Graduation should be a happy time. It should be the time when a student moves from academic achievement into the adult world of earning a living in a profession. Unfortunately here in The Gambia this is not always the case. We read with great interest that the International Business College (IBC) in Kanifing recently awarded certificates and diploma’s in business management, marketing and tourism to 80 graduating students at a ceremony held on the school premises. This is indeed great news for all concerned. We would assume that all of these graduates could now begin to repay the large sums of money invested in them by their parents and their families but unfortunately this may not be the case. As happens all too often in this country many of these graduates will have difficulty getting the jobs their training has prepared them for. This must be a soul destroying feeling for these graduates. They will want to use the skills they have learned in college to start contributing to the welfare of the wider family and if they cannot do this their self-esteem will inevitably suffer.

Life is difficult for even those families with a regular income so it follows that the families of graduates will have made sacrifices for the sake of their education. For this reason the graduates may feel that they have let their family down if they cannot find work. In some cases the wider family may be resentful of the graduate as they cannot give a return on the investment made in them.

In some cases this may lead young people to turn to alcohol and drugs to deal with the boredom they must endure on a daily basis. With all qualifications there needs to be a constant updating and enhancement of the skills grounding received in college in a workplace. For this reason if a young person cannot get into a workplace quickly after graduation they face the prospect of their qualification diminishing in value. If this happens they will find themselves in the same situation as those unfortunate young people who never got the opportunity to be educated in the first place.

We, as Gambians, are all too aware of the crisis that unemployed youth find themselves in. They turn to drugs, to crime and to alcohol to try and deal with the boredom and shame of still being a burden to their families when they are young men and women.

It is this hopelessness that is driving many of our young men to risk their lives at sea striving to find a better life in Europe. They feel a great shame that they cannot be a contributing member of the family and would rather run the risk of death than endure a life such as this.

This is a deeply saddening reality for many young people. Our best and brightest find themselves facing the same fate as those who were never educated in the first place. This devalues a good education in the eyes of many people. Will it discourage families from making the sacrifices they might have if the education guaranteed a job? If this happens then a cycle of non-education will begin which will very difficult to break. The message must be clear; a good education will lead to a good job. If this is not the message then there is a good chance many young people will not get the opportunity to study and that would be a travesty.

The government must do all it can to encourage new business into The Gambia. If there is a strong business and tourist industry then our graduates will be guaranteed the work their qualifications deserve.

The 80 students who graduated from the International Business College (IBC) with certificates and diplomas in business management, marketing and tourism are exactly what our tourist industry needs. Their approach will be professional and their technique exemplary. They will allow and encourage the continued expansion of the tourist industry in The Gambia on which the economy is so dependent. The ramifications of the continuation of the current situation are grim. For all the reasons listed above we must ensure that there are jobs for not only graduates but for every able bodied young person who wishes to make their contribution to the socio-economic development of our great nation.

The Point-Gambia
Wednesday 5th March 2008