How Many SHS Graduates In Ghana Can Work With Their 2014 WASSCE Results?

After causing the partial fear and panic to Ghanaians with the number of our SHS graduates who failed to qualify for entry into the university, as happened with the first SSS result in 1995, could you let us know those who can contribute their quota to Mother Ghana and beyond by working with their passes and grades!

This is more so when the SHS is terminal as a second cycle school. Tell me as an above-average Ghanaian student following the former long (10-5-2-4) educational course with little in assets to show for it, and maybe my revered Bill Gates who dropped out of the University to become one of the world's richest for developing the Personal Computer (pc), and middle-school leaver Dr. Kwame Osei Despite, etc.

After all the advanced countries whose education we follow, do not rely on paper qualification that much for remuneration as they do on one's attitude towards work!

Maybe we have to redesignate our education as "Work Learning" instead of "book learning" to make us focus on education more as a means to an end, where the end is work/career. With this in our subconscious we will not worry about how many of our students are acceptable in the universities as if that is the only tertiary institution in Ghana for SHS graduates to upgrade their knowledge for work!

Sorry for being blunt here, but our education has unfortunately become the paper-qualification type; and with this mindset is it not surprising that our university graduates claim to be unemployed when problems like filth, accidents, diseases, waste, corruption etc disturb Ghanaians who supported their education!

Meanwhile our varsity graduates move heaven and earth to travel abroad to do all kinds of work unrelated to their qualification. Is the big deal therefore to have university education or to get well-paying jobs? Let us say for the sake of argument that university trains people for managerial positions; if so, how many managers can be employed in a business entity, compared to the other workers that are involved in production? If it is say, one manager to twenty workers, is it not reasonable to conclude that for every SHS student admitted to the university, twenty should get other non-university training for a harmonious industrial environment?

After all the fingers are not the same just as humans are not; some have to be taller or bigger than others for harmony. Our spiritual and physical qualities differ so much that we should learn not to overly imitate others; unfortunately, it is our unfair system which places some Ghanaian workers so low to be paid slave wages, to decrease production while the bulk of company's resources are allocated to pleasing the administrators.

Let us end by drawing attention to the fact that education to attain a university degree and beyond is never too late in life, so does not have age limit; also there are countless instances where businesses sponsor diligent workers to achieve this even as they are still workers.

Let us help the "disqualified university students" to be work conscious before the devil engages them; this failure is only the beginning of life experience which can positively transform many a youth. It is also noteworthy that the "overcopying" attitudes of some Ghanaians, have led to overprotection of our children from work, and is contributing to this varsity-for-white-collar-job mentality.

All said and done, we all agree that all is not well with our systemic education; if we apply more truth and less of politicking, Ghana will find her way forward with her education for development.

May God/Allah/Our conscience help us!