College? Not for me

 A few years ago, speaking to a young American, I was shocked when he declared that he was sorry he had gone to college. When I asked him why, he explained that he had wasted four years of his life getting a degree, cum laude too, only to find that the job market for graduates was no good. He told me that all around he heard of the thousands of young people who did not graduate with anything but were making huge sums of money on things like gaming and You Tube.

Interestingly, he did not mention criminal activity though.

I was a bit puzzled as where I come from, Jamaica, higher education had long been considered the route to upward mobility, including financial success.

I guess I am out of step though for I am only realizing that the type of youth that I knew who hungered for higher education, now seem obsolete, especially among young men.

It came home starkly when I was advised recently that two well-advertised scholarships valued at $2.4 million, to our own University of the West Indies, was commanding little interest.

These scholarships were being sponsored by Violet Edwards, a Jamaican, who is one of five people in the world that got a university degree while in their 90’s. (Joan, my views: Reflections on aging (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Even then I didn’t want to believe there was a serious trend until a friend sent me this recent news item from TVJ. (https://youtu.be/Y9WiSxpcc7I.)

 In the news clip, you see and hear Minister of Agriculture Pernell Charles Jr, bemoaning the fact that there are dozens of scholarships available for which there are no takers.

And to think that for years I have been living under the illusion that just enough scholarships are available for poor students! 😞                                                                    I really shouldn’t be surprised you know but I am genuinely dismayed.

I say I shouldn’t be surprised, for I have known for years that Jamaica is a country where crime definitely pays. 

So if you can get rich quickly and easily through crime, why study?

Even when our criminals are as high profile as Dudus was, the law does not touch them as our security force is super corrupt.

One of the homes alledgedly owned by Dudus

And, there are so many easy ways to make money and openly enjoy the flashy lifestyle in Jamaica without ever being deterred (unless the Americans step in), that those who don’t choose that route could be considered either cowardly or stupid!

Among the easy ways the youth see people making lots of money and living large without studying are; scamming, extortion, drugs, religion and politics.

On the other hand, most who choose the long tedious route involving years of study, after graduation, they end up in jobs which don’t even give them the ability to pay rent in relatively safe neighborhoods, if they don’t get the opportunity to migrate.

Of course, there are exceptions to this general trend, but clearly not enough to give most young people the impetus to pursue the straight and narrow.

Till we tackle this drift, college and higher education will continue to be unattractive to many in the younger generation.