Celebrating our students’ success

Over the past few weeks thousands of students from the University and MCAST attended graduation ceremonies that crowned years of hard work. Their sacrifices are often shared by their parents who put so much effort and money to give their children the best chance to succeed in life through education. In London, Rome and Dublin other students are on the streets protesting about the escalating cost of educating themselves as governments tackle the rot in public finances.

Our educational system has islands of excellence that should inspire us to double our efforts to fix those parts of the process that are dysfunctional. If thousands of students succeed in our system, there is no reason why many others cannot be helped to succeed too. My concern is that the strategies we are adopting to tackle the weaknesses in the system are not addressing the most relevant issues that are behind our low attainment levels.

One sobering piece of advice that I give to our young graduates is that the real challenges of their working life are just beginning. I recall a poem written 40 years ago by Bernard Mallia in which he describes with graphical detail the pain that a runner goes through to reach what he believes is the finishing line of a race that promises glory to the winner. On reaching this line, the officials congratulate the runner for making it on time – to the starting line of the race that is about to begin.

The first challenge that graduates have to face will be that of securing a job that meets their aspirations. For some, this will be a relatively painless task. Accountants, IT specialists, and engineers have a better chance of landing the job of their dreams than do anthropologists, philosophers, and sociologists.

Those who insist that tertiary education is more than just about landing a good job, and more about self-development and pursuing one’s dreams, may be right. But try telling this to a young graduate who in job interviews is told that his qualifications are not really relevant in the knowledge economy.

Even those who manage to find decent employment may soon face frustration as they realise that the job they have landed is not only not paying them the kind of salary that they thought they could earn, but does not even offer long-term career prospects. They feel caught in a blind alley – they are over-qualified and underemployed. But they stick it out, because in these difficult economic times having a job – in fact, any job – is a blessing that should not be taken for granted.

Another hard fact that young graduate employees soon learn is the need to get involved in the right networks, if they are to move fast up the career ladder. Business networking is by no means a negative thing. But the reality is that some of these networks are built on a disregard for ethical standards in professional behaviour and the perpetuation of political tribalism in our small society. Unless we promote meritocracy in our society, we will risk becoming a backwater of the European business culture.

Many students will be lured by the good opportunities that exist for post-graduate studies. The secret of success in these circumstances is to go for those courses that really enhance one’s career prospects. Following post-graduate studies simply because one could not land a suitable job with a first degree, could lead to even bigger frustration in future.

Young people should research and ask for advice on where the opportunities for good employment exist. They should not limit their horizons to the local scene but should venture out to other destinations. If, and when, they return after a stint of working abroad, Maltese professionals will hopefully inject a dose of new blood in the seemingly comatose local intelligentsia.

Being a young person in today’s troubled world is not an easy thing. But probably this is the case with every generation. I fret about the legacy of problems that we will be handing down to the next two generations. So I celebrate the academic success of our young graduates by wishing them the best of luck with the words of an old Irish blessing:

“May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your backs,

May the sun shine warm on your faces, may the rain fall softly upon your fields,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand, now and forever.”

jcassarwhite@yahoo.com