Third grader can excel in graduate position!

By A Daddy

I attended a GIBS Forum Event in August 2005 where the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, made a presentation on the topic - "Transforming Education in South Africa."
She discussed a few action and focus areas which she said the Department is working on. (Sounds a bit like Liberty - we're working on it.) Many of her comments, which I shall not address in this article, were very comforting to me as a home-schooler from a legal point of view as she clearly indicated that the "system" still lacks the means to lay an adequate basic foundation for children.
However, the topic which I'd like to touch on in this article applies to the real world.
A young black man, if I recall correctly his name is Sam, made an interesting contribution in response to the Minister's statement that some 15% of graduates in South Africa are unemployed.
Sam said that he started a business that employs some 290 people. Some of his employees are graduates. Most of them love their work, do it well and are paid a decent salary. So what is this business? Wait for it….
They clean toilets for companies.
Am I degrading cleaning toilets?
No, of course not. Toilet cleaning services are as essential as any other service one can think of. What this young man did was to identify a need, come up with a solution and he now provides a service to companies. That is called problem solving.
So what's the point I'm trying to make?
The point is - One does not need a degree to come up with a solution to a problem!
However, should one come up with a solution to a problem, it seems like there are many graduates around who would be more than willing to work for you!
Am I against having a degree?
No, I have one myself.
The point is - A qualification does not guarantee success!
If it did, would we have 15% unemployed graduates in a country which says it so desperately lack skills?