Myth of Matching Skill to Economy

I love playing devil's advocate. For me it is a sure way of ensuring that the other side's point of view is not lost in the rigmaroles of saving face and maintaining the status quo.

I have heard it said over and over that our universities need to educate our youth to match the needs of our economy and I wonder what exactly does this mean? I have had youngsters come to me to ask what course they should take at college and my standard first question is; what do you think you should take and why? One of their standard criteria is that it needs to be marketable. When I ask them how they judge a course to be marketable, the general answer is one where they can get a job quickly and start earning money as soon as possible after completing their studies.

Each person seems to have a different view on which the ‘marketable’ courses are: ranging from medicine to teaching. Views seem to be generally based on their friends’ and families’ experiences.

On the flip side, when speaking to my age-mages (not quite youngsters anymore), all I hear is how graduates today are half-baked and not prepared for work; how frustrated managers are because you can rarely trust a graduate to complete a job and how they all wish the campuses would style up and spew forth competent graduates.

So yes! There is definitely a problem. However, I beg to differ with the majority of writers and opinion makers in what our problem is. I will be the first to acknowledge that the universities are not preparing our youth sufficiently for the job market. I am sick and tired of having fresh employs think that it is fine not to finish their work or to keep shifting blame instead of standing up and taking responsibilities. This however is not as a result of taking the wrong course. This, I feel, is as a result of what I would call ‘a complete failure to mentor the youth’.

Question is, whose failure? Here, I am extremely liberal in spreading the blame and if you do not see yourself in any of these classes, consider yourself a saint.

The Parents (to include aunties, uncles and elder siblings)

For failing to allow the children to do chores that are the backbone of work ethic.

Primary and Secondary School Teachers

For insisting that the children spend all their waking hours studying for exams, failing to realise that once the exams are done, these same children will still have to perform in a world where exams do not mean everything.

University Lecturers

For forcing the now young adults to cram millions of words in a specific order, numbing and at times even killing the ability to think.

Employers

For adopting a defeatist mentality where the youth are concerned. Mark my words, if employers fail to mould the young employees, they will suffer as their workforce dwindles and becomes more expensive.

The Young Adults themselves

For failing to realise that they are on a path to self-destruction and resisting all attempts to bring them back.

In all this however, I do not see the place of the ‘wrong’ course.   What I see instead is the wrong attitude and approach to life. Unfortunately, our educators have got it all wrong; introducing a course called ‘Life Skills’ will not teach life skills. This is something that has to be done by everyone who comes into contact with a child long before they have even thought about what ‘course’ to take in college. Our forefathers were right when they said it takes a village to raise a child.

So, what now? 

Having failed our children (think village not actual offspring), we now have a responsibility to teach them what we did not teach them in their younger years. 

What we do today will definitely dictate what kind of employees, managers and entrepreneurs we have tomorrow…

My 7 Year OId Teenager

Have you met my 7 year old teenager? Sounds like a bit of an oxymoron; after all you have to be at least 13 to be a teenager.

However, let’s consider; if you remove the age factor, what makes a teenager?

I have spent many a minute trolling the internet and hard copy literature (yes, hard copy books still exist) and the general agreement is that a teenager has the following characteristics:-

• Rapid mental and physical development

In the last one year, I have had to buy several pairs of shoes for my daughter and give them away within a couple of months because they could no longer fit. Last week, we had a wardrobe cleansing exercise where we discarded all clothes that could not fit the little girl and lo and behold! She now only owns 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of jeans and a smattering of tops. My 7 year old is reading 200 page novels in rapid succession and guess what? She can tell you the plot and analyse the characters of the book like she has taken high school literature classes. She recently told me (after we spent 2 Wednesdays in a row hunting down houses of our Bible Study mates and getting lost each time) that my friends live in very 'complicated' places. Wow! If that is not rapid mental and physical development, what is?

• Moodiness

Pouts, puppy dog eyes and belligerent body language are all something of a teen phenomenon. So when my 7 year old throws me a stormy look and stomps off to her room, I am partly shocked, partly amused. I just wonder, if this is a 7 year old teen tantrum, what will the teen teen tantrum look like?

• Increased awareness of self

When I was 7, I was happy to make an absolute spectacle of myself. Look at me, look at what I can do! When I was 14, on the other hand, I would want to melt into the background and be as invisible to the world as possible.  My daughter is already trying to become a wall flower. When we leave the house, she is very careful to make sure she has carried a novel and colouring book (our children are not allowed any gadgetry of their own). When we get to our destination, she will painstakingly endure the obligatory greetings then dissapear to spend time with herself, only to reappear like a ghost when she needs some food and ... promptly disappear again.

• Increased willingness to take on responsibility

Imagine my absolute delight and horror one day when my mother-in-law came to visit and my daughter (who is named after her) offered her a cup of tea. Delight as I felt I had taught my daughter well; to offer guests some refreshment. Horror because I had not yet made tea! Very maturely, and to my great relief, my daughter went to the kitchen, switched on the cooker and started brewing tea. She only called me into the kitchen, very discretely, to ask me to assist pour the tea into a thermos after which she proceeded to serve her grandmother. Suffice it to say, my mum in law was so delighted that she again announced that anyone named after her could only be a star. I, of course, agree.

• Increased independence

I may sound a little jaded when I share this, but I remember with nostalgia the days when my choice in clothing was the best. Now, if I bother to select an outfit, my fashion sense is immediately put under scrutiny. You need to understand; I was born and brought up in an age when we matched our clothing. Colour blocking is an alien concept. So when I select a pale blue top to be worn with blue jeans, I watch my daughter almost cringe. When left to her devices she will generally turn up wearing multi-coloured stockings, a dress-top (why can’t it just be one or the other?) that is not only multi-coloured, but also multi-patterned and multi-fabric’d, a sweater that only covers the arms and back, black shoes with neon laces and topped off with hair that is also multi-coloured. Amazingly, she still looks great.

I am wary of researching any deeper into the qualities and characteristics of teenagers lest I find even more proof that my 7 year old is actually a teen.

Further I find myself with 2 dilemmas: First, I also have a 4 year old daughter who idolises her 7 year old sister and learns from her even faster than she learns from me. Thus in another year or so, I will have a 5 or 6 year old teenager! Second, now that my 7 year old is showing all signs of being a teenager at this point, I shudder at what will happen when she turns 13! 

(GULP!!)

Lessons from My Father

As a girl, my adoration automatically goes to my father. I am blessed that I had a father worthy of that adoration. He was no saint, mark you. I remember several of his very human faults, but above all I remember all the good stuff.

I remember lessons he taught me in finance - you have to work to earn; in self confidence - he always told me how sharp and beautiful I am; in survival - Carol, for as long as you have a brain in your head, you will never sleep hungry; in cookery - how to make a killer burger; in hostessing - how to serve a beer and 2 fingers of whisky; in driving - imagine that all other drivers on the road are lunatics and you should be safe on the road. These are all  lessons that I carry with me to date and that have served me well to this day .

I remember particularly his lesson in keeping time. If my dad asked you to meet him somewhere at 9 o'clock, he would be there at 8:50, wait till 8:55 and leave. When I complained about it, he told me that if I was not there at 8:55 surely I had no intention to be on time. To this day I arrive at my appointments at least 10 minutes early.

This piece may be about lessons from my father and I would be doing a great injustice to my roots if I failed to mention some lessons from my father's father. I am the first grandchild on my dad's side of the family and my grandfather and I had a really deep connection. We got along great. As a little 10 year old, I had just started getting interested in american movies and little sponge that I was, I picked up everything including their poor pronunciation of words. My grandfather suddenly became hard of hearing when I used words such as 'I dunno', 'I wanna' and drummed it into me that a person who cannot pronounce right should not bother with the language. As a result, my language skills improved.

 More recently, I heard a lesson from my friend's dad that echoed my grandfather's; he said that a person who could not speak a language properly was just plain lazy. He said it so categorically that it shocked me, but on reflection, I saw his point. If I want to communicate in a language I have an obligation to learn it correctly.

Back to my own father... I also learnt from his mistakes. I saw him hang on to life in the city long after we could no longer afford to live there. As a result, we got broke fast and faced some really tough times. I know the importance of living within your means. I also learnt that all those things that we believe are a 'must-have' are only 'good-to-haves'; we survived on very little for a very long time. I have no hang-ups, I can live in a mud hut and eat ugali every day if necessary.

My dad loved music and I learned how to appreciate music from him. I can appreciate music from all manner of genres: reggae, rock, blues, country, afro and others whose names I don't know. I listen to songs about fathers and daughters and remember my own father fondly, flaws and all... I especially love Dance with my father by Luther Vandross - for anyone who has lost your father, lie to me and tell me that this song does not bring tears to your eyes.

I loved my dad dearly. He may be gone, but his lessons are here with me and he lives on as I impart them to my children (biological or otherwise).

Thanks Dad!

First Steps to ....

Woo hoo! Today my journey as a writer begins!

I have no clue where I am headed, but in life, I have come to learn that sometimes, you just need to go with the flow and discover yourself along the way.

Happy times ahead!