Leading our Graduates astray! Where are we heading?

A few minutes ago, I confronted a boy and his mother who were waiting for one of our colleagues to come, so that he could speak to the Chairman of NLDB relating to a letter given him over a month ago, with a minute in pen written by Harrison the Minister of Livestock Development!

This was from a graduate of UVA WELLASSA in ANIMAL HUSBANDRY from our Electorate, who had got his degree in 2012 who had been trying for over a year to get into the NLDB! I put him in touch with another colleague of mine, who knew the Chairman personally to help, and I started thinking about how he should have approached his employment prospects.

As a Dairy Farmer myself, and as one approached by Anchor to find them land to build a model Dairy Farm, why is this person so adamant on getting a job with the NLDB. Surely there are so many private farms who are seeking QUALIFIED people to work in Dairy especially as the Govt. is getting more Milch Cows from Australia and are in so many private public partnerships to enhance dairy production in the Island with a view to at least producing 50% of the national milk requirement locally.

What is the problem? Whose responsibility is it, and how should people like this go about finding productive and remunerative employment?

To add to this there is NO proper job bank system, where people like this can post their resumes for interested parties to look and call for interviews. Obviously I asked this guy why has he not been in related gainful employment from the day of getting his degree, and wait so long! He has even worked in Fisheries in the Maldives. Was the latter because the remuneration was better than he could gain by apprenticing with a Dairy Farm Company?

I was not able to in the short time to ascertain the answers to these questions, as I am flummoxed that if he has searched for a job in the private sector and NOT been able to secure one, by now, UVA WELLASSA has failed him.

I have a high regard for graduates from UVA WELLASSA as the University was set up to have degrees in fields that can directly lead to a worthwhile and productive employment. I am in two minds whether to send this blog post to the VC there, so he can understand the problems facing the students who leave the University.

I told the boy, that I believed it MUST be the responsibility of the UNIVERSITY to use their contacts like after placing him in an internship, to also place him in a job for a year of apprenticing, which is ESSENTIAL to get the next job, and step on the ladder of FARMING as a career both essential for Sri Lanka, and hopefully beneficial to him as a lucrative career in the future, once he has mastered his art and skills to be productive.

This is another instance of ‘public’ foolishness to go behind a politician to get a job, and when even the letters have NOT worked, keep on pressing hoping to succeed. Is it due to the perception that Govt. job at all costs is the only goal, and to hell with the Private Sector?