8/13/2019 05.05.13 - Unemployed graduates A curse for the youth

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Unemployed graduates A curse for the youth?

A man willing to work, and unable to f ind work, is perhaps the saddest sight that f ort unes inequalityexhibits under this sun, once said Thomas Carlyle. Af ter years of st udies when the f resh graduates arenow willing to adopt a prof ess ional stance to life, t hey get the greatest disappointment- UNEMPLOYMENT.

Many f resh graduates in Mauritius are currently f acing this crisis. Unemployment has many negative ef f ectson t he youth. Some of the graduates have agreed to share their experience with News on Sunday.

MANY YOUNG students are of ten told that a university education would be their pass port to success; thatemployers would hire them on the s trength o f their degrees. However, the reality has proved very dif f erentf or many of these s tudents . Despite high ambitions t o f orge ahead in lif e many graduates af ter havingpos ted numerous CVs, but they are st ill awaiting the job of f ers to come f looding in - none ever came.

Being educated and unemployed is not a new problem. This human tragedy has been on the rise f or s everalyears now. The economic crisis has, certainly, not made it easier f or the young men out there. Themismatch between education and the job market is glaring in Mauritius. According to the latest government

statistics there are 30,000 individuals aged between 16 and 30 years, currently unemployed in Mauritius.Furthermore, 8,500 graduates are unemployed and 1,400 of them have been so f or more than one year.

The Prime Mini st er Dr Navin Ramgoo lam has always s tressed the importance of an exc ellent education f or a decent job. However, despite the encouragement and support by the Prime Minister there are still manystudents out there, backed by a highly decorated educational prof ile with the job market st ill envy materialto them. Many no longer hold true to the saying Go to schoo l and youll get a job.]

Mishka Bissessur: Too many graduates chasing too f ew jobsMishka is a f resh graduate f rom the University o f Mauritius and has been st ruggling since last year tosecure a job. She has been sending more than 1 hundred applications but still no response. It has beennow a year s ince I have graduated in English and s ince then I am still loo king for a job. I really do not knowhow much more t ime it is go ing to t ake as I do have other f riends o f my age in the same situat ion and somehave even waited f or t wo to t hree years to secure a job, she says. According to her, it is quite dif f icult tocope with this s ituation as it leaves her f rustrated as she is not being able to s tand on her own f eet at thisage and not be f inancially independent.

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8/13/2019 05.05.13 - Unemployed graduates A curse for the youth

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Even today af ter completing a degree I have to see my parents st ruggling and I am helpless. It makes mewonder about all the years spent in studies, about all the stres s we have been through since CPE, toacquiring this university degree and if this will ever bear its f ruits, s he adds.

Today there are too many graduates and f ew job o pportunities. Competition has become quite tough.Some of us either go f or f urther studies and try our luck abroad while ot hers continue to s truggle here,she adds.

Anot her problem is that companies look f or candidates having experience and being a f resh graduate f romuniversity does not really help. The situation has worsened so much that nowadays youngsters are readyto st art with any kind of job if given the chance even if they are overqualif ied f or t he post . Its o ne of theways t o at least acquire work experience, she s tates.Mishka thinks there is a lack of st reaming at tertiary level. There too many intakes each year and this caneasily be seen by the overcrowded campus and thus t here are too many graduates competing for t oof ew jobs . Furthermore companies should try to give youngsters the opportunity to pro ve themselves whilethe government has to f ind a way to help us youngsters to secure jobs according to o ur qualifications .

Sania: Split jobs t o employ more

Af ter several uns uccessf ul interviews and hundreds of application letters sent, Sania, holding a Bsc inMarketing and Management, has never f elt so helpless . In 2009, she joined the University of Mauritius withmuch hope and with t he aim of ursuing a goo d career but af ter years of st udy; she has not been able toatt ain her goals yet . It has been nearly one year since I have been searching for a job and even applied f or internship but employers think I need experience to get the job. But the irony is that to gain experience, oneneeds a job f irst, says Sania.

It is very stres sf ul to see some students who perf ormed less well than you secure jobs easily justbecause they have cont acts . At this age, to be unemployed is really disappo inting. However, Im trying tocope with the situation as it is the only option lef t, she st resses. Sania points at the f ailure of the system

f or t he increasing rate of unemployment among youngsters.The whole system is wrong. The recruiting agencies are taking thousands o f rupees f or t he sake of rebuilding ones CV, she adds. According to her, so lutions must be devised t o remedy the s ituation at theearliest possible. Instead of giving a person a f ull time job with a big pay, it would be bett er if a newst rategy is devised where the job and the pay can be split f or 2 or more perso ns. Hence, it will be part-t imef or t wo persons rather than full time f or o ne person job. It might s olve the problem a litt le bit, concludedSania.

Samar: Stale programmes with no job scopeWith much conf idence and aspiration, 23-year o ld Samar opted f or BA Histo ry and Geography three years

ago but t oday he is unmotivated as he is jobless. Today Im really depressed as life is get ting diff icult dayby day and since one year Im st ill sitt ing at home, says Samar anxiously. He further adds I feel I wasted 3years of my lif e studying something that has no scope and no value in the Mauritian job market. Thesituat ion is so embarrassing because some people just give you a s illy and shocked express ion when youtell them your f ield of study. Since Samar lef t university, he is do ing his level best in looking f or jobs. Whatis discouraging is t hat many institut ions s ay that my degree is not relevant to the job market and there is nodemand for the subject I st udied, he st ates . In a very angry tone, Samar highly believes that the syst em inMauritius is a laid back system and it has to be reviewed f or sure. The whole organisation is s till as it was20 years back, f or example at t he University o f Mauritius they st ill of f er programmes that were there 10years back and they know there is no job scope, he claims.

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Chandan Jankee: One graduate per family but no job?The economist Chandan Junkee stated that if the country reaches a point where everybody is qualif ied,under the current employment trend, it will lead to an inf lation o f qualif ication. We will create a s ituationwhere highly qualif ied individuals will be doing average jobs . However, the go vernment needs to developnew strategies. For example an allocation f or the unemployed. Without a concrete plan to cater f or graduates it will be a complete waste o f resources, he said. News o n Sunday also questioned theeconomist regarding the numerous tert iary inst itutions being set up around the island. Many of theseuniversities have no use to our country. They are providing qualif ications that have no value. I call themcowboy universities .

Deepak Benydin: Highly qualified young people were routinely being e xpected t o t ake on low-skilled rolescontacted by News on Sunday, Deepak Benydin, a trade unionist , st ated that indeed it is a s erious issuethat needs to be address ed promptly. When we speak of unemployment many are under the illusion thatgraduates do no t f all into this catego ry. However, it is t he contrary and graduates are currently just as muchaf f ected by unemployment as any other group. Highly qualif ied young people were routinely being expectedto take on low- skilled roles to earn a wage. They are of ten underpaid and prof usely exploited by someemployers. Bef ore, people could opt to pursue a career in a foreign country, but with t he current worldwide

economic crisis, the tunnel has been narrowed, says Deepak Benydin.

It is crucial that parents , students , educational institutions and the government work together to addressthe pro blem. As we all know, there is a lack of career guidance in Mauritius . Many students af ter f ollowingtheir st udies decide to pursue f urther s tudies and end up going in circles. We all have to sit down and havea brainstorming session and resolve matters professionally not just go by what the authorities tell us.Mauritius will be the sole benef iciary of this if the problem is reso lved in this manner, st ated DeepakBenydin.

Graduates are t oo choosy?Thierry Goder, director of Talentaris, a recruitment and human resources consulting company st ated that

indeed he receives numerous calls f rom young individuals regarding jobs. I receive numerous calls andapplications f rom young graduates. One of the reasons why they do no t have a job is t hat the supply sideof the market is not in line with the degree they pos sess. There is also t he f act that many young people arepicky about the work that is available.

We have a new generation that I respect , but young people want a big salary quickly, and they forget thatthey must prove themselves f or t wo o r three years bef ore t hey can aspire to climb up the ladder. We needyoung people with humility and patience. I know many young peo ple who make thes e sacrif ices, and who arenow, af ter t hree or f ive years, department heads, supervisors and managers. They gradually worked up toreap these benef its.

YEP: 500 f ind jobs, including 100 graduatesFinance Minister Xavier-Luc Duval posted on his Faceboo k prof ile on 23 April that so f ar, nearly 500 youngpeople have started working under the Youth Employment Program. This f igure includes more than 100graduates . He also wrote that more than 230 employers have registered to take part in this program.Readers will recall that the 2013 National Budget has provided Rs 330m to ass ist Mauritian youth to obtainemployment. Unemployed youngsters aged between 16 and 30 years may regist er on www.yep.mu fo r jobplacements.

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