Tertiary Struggles & The Unfortunate Experience Of Unemployment And Underemployment After Graduation

One of the most difficult phases in life is schooling at any given level; either the Basic, Second Cycle or the Tertiary (Primary, Junior High School, Senior High School or the University).

Learning for exams in the African context itself is very uncomfortable because of how competitive teachers like myself and others make the preparation and writing of the exams seem. Elsewhere, examination is an avenue to test the learners’ understanding of the concept and how they can channel that into a meaningful life. In Ghana, teachers make an exam day seems like the Judgement Day!

The worrying observation is that, after all the “chew and pour” phenomenon, sleepless nights and difficult moments, folks graduate from school only to find out that looking for a job is a job itself. It is very sad for graduates who risked all to go through tertiary suffering or living on peanuts from their parents after completion of their mandatory National Service.

No wonder the likes of Chairman Wontumi and Kumawood stars like Kwaku Manu and Lilwin can brag that even though they had no educational background, they are better off than most graduates in life. The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling NPP, Chairman Wontumi, even went a step further during a panel discussion on Wontumi TV to state that he is richer than one Professor Baafi who has written all the books in the world.

Are Ghanaians gradually measuring intelligence, education or expertise with bank account details? If so, is there still the need to go to school only to join the “Graduate Unemployment Association?”

To be continued…