It really baffles me when I go through the CV's of job applicants here at home since I came back from the UK. I have noticed that the average age of most applicants without any job experience is 27-30 (ie fresh graduates). Within that age bracket in the UK, one should have had at least 6-7 years job experience because at 16 you are legally free to leave school and start work and if you decide to acquire a university degree you must have completed it before you are 21. I had a manager back then who joined the company when he was 17 and acquired his university degree on ''2 days release per week''. He became a manager at 33. Having spent 13years with the company, he fully understands the job role. I do not believe that one can acquire all the skills you need in a job by spending so much time in school because when you leave school as a fresh graduate you'll still need on the job training to function effectively in your chosen role. I understand that our educational system does not help matters at all (ie incessant industrial actions and NYSC thing too which has lost it's purpose). What should be done to correct this abnormally in the future?

ASUU and asup strike actions should be a thing of the past.

Remember that people are just acquiring certificates in Nigeria, because most companies don't know the skills they need.

An average student in nigeria finishes high school around age 16-18yrs
1.) Write waec for like 4 times before you make like five credit (note that like 3 credits can be from waec 1999 and the other two credit can be from GCE 2002)
2.) JAMB go Jam person like four times
3.) ASU go strike
4.) porter go strike
5.) cleaner too dey strike
6.) Even student too no dey carry last (who no dey strike for naija)

7.) If you be fine girl whey no gree open puss, lecturer go fail you so tey,  or if you be bobo whey dey date that girl whey the lecturer dey eye na so u go dey chop beans for exam
8.) You struggle finish school them no see your result, them use a whole year search for result before them clear you make u go serve your father land
9NYSC: Now Your Suffering continues

Now tell me how old would the guy be by then?
thank God for those private Unis sha

Pa-Ken:

It really baffles me when I go through the CV's of job applicants here at home since I came back from the UK. I have noticed that the average age of most applicants without any job experience is 27-30 (ie fresh graduates). Within that age bracket in the UK, one should have had at least 6-7 years job experience because at 16 you are legally free to leave school and start work and if you decide to acquire a university degree you must have completed it before you are 21. I had a manager back then who joined the company when he was 17 and acquired his university degree on ''2 days release per week''. He became a manager at 33. Having spent 13years with the company, he fully understands the job role. I do not believe that one can acquire all the skills you need in a job by spending so much time in school because when you leave school as a fresh graduate you'll still need on the job training to function effectively in your chosen role. I understand that our educational system does not help matters at all (ie incessant industrial actions and NYSC thing too which has lost it's purpose). What should be done to correct this abnormally in the future?

I have seen adverts for sales assistant or shop assistant in Nigeria asking for HND,Degree is social sciences blah blah bla like they'll teach students how to pack a bag or how roll up their sleeves in class

mydreamz:

An average student in nigeria finishes high school around age 16-18yrs
1.) Write waec for like 4 times before you make like five credit (note that like 3 credits can be from waec 1999 and the other two credit can be from GCE 2002)
2.) JAMB go Jam person like four times
3.) ASU go strike
4.) porter go strike
5.) cleaner too dey strike
6.) Even student too no dey carry last (who no dey strike for naija)

7.) If you be fine girl whey no gree open puss, lecturer go fail you so tey, or if you be bobo whey dey date that guy whey the lecturer dey eye na so u go dey chop beans for exam
8.) You struggle finish school them no see you result, them use a whole year search for result before them clear you make u go serve you father land
9NYSC: Now Your Suffering continues

Now tell me how old would the guy be by them, thank God for those private Unis sha

In the middle of all these a proactive student in a 'kind' society should be able to get work expeirence in a manufacturing plant or some office as a junior or network with family member and friends getting experience
instead they just resign and blame everybody else

The educational system is faulty,In Nigeria if you are graduate,you get so much respect from the society,Nigerians need functional education,and asian or eastern europe kind of trainning.In ghana for instance,most of the big private hospitals are owned by people that schooled in russia or ukraine,the british trainned person works for government hospital.

@OP
I think in Nigeria, people mostly spend a lot of time getting into school for higher education, and then spend more time trying to get out of school.
Then they spend even more time trying to get a job with their certificates, plus acquiring more degrees, certifications, etc. So it's not really the fault of the candidates per se. A quest to become, say, a mechanical engineer, in Nigeria, might just end up a twenty-year odyssey, and at the end of it all, have not much to show except some almost worthless degree certificate, and no actual skills.

AjanleKoko:

@OP
I think in Nigeria, people mostly spend a lot of time getting into school for higher education, and then spend more time trying to get out of school.
Then they spend even more time trying to get a job with their certificates, plus acquiring more degrees, certifications, etc. So it's not really the fault of the candidates per se. A quest to become, say, a mechanical engineer, in Nigeria, might just end up a twenty-year odyssey, and at the end of it all, have not much to show except some almost worthless degree certificate, and no actual skills.

Well said - A rack of worthless degrees with no work experience. I made up my mind after my degree program i will not take another higher degree program but rather consolidate my work experience. Funny enough in my 8 years of after university experience no western company has every asked to bring my certificate during any interview but are more interested in what i was doing in my last place of work.

That iw h

kabarka:

Nigerians spend more time in school because they believe in CERTIFICATE AND TITLE instead of PRACTICAL

True talk,and that is why the indians are taking away so much jobs from Nigerians,White people with vocational trainning in fields nigerians look down on ,come to work in the oil industry,and earn dollars as salaries.The british sold this ideas to us.It as come to stay,but the private universities are now producing young grads like 23 .

problem to be address is for several union not to use industrial action as tools for requesting from government

kabarka:

@olas2u,it is not only oil industry oh.Go to construction companies,you see lebaneses in action.Just because they can use those machines.They can't even speak good english.

What of tilers,our brothers from togo are there suck their own millions from nigeria.

Our government shuld start from reviving TECHNICAL SCHOOL esp for those that could'nt afford to go to school and VOCATIONAL TRAINING for unemployed graduates.

I agree with you,but Nigerians look down on technically skilled people,they see them as low level people.

nigerians like skool, 2much, it is not by skool oh, everybody from undergraduate, to masters, then to phd, it is what you know, i havent even finished skool,im even a drop out sef, and just yday i had 3 job offers i turned down,na wetin u know .
There are job oportunities everwhere.There is always a vacant position for an individual who has value to add to an organization. Employers of labour are looking for people with solution or ideas for solution to the problems and challenges facing their organizations. In other words they are interested in what you can do, not the litany of certificates you parade.

Simple answer: Innocent people who are victims of an ailing educational system created by ignorant and self-centered leaders who we sell our voting rights to.

of what impact has the long educational system have on our national technological and economical development

ayo84:

nigerians like skool, 2much, it is not by skool oh, everybody from undergraduate, to masters, then to phd, it is what you know, i havent even finished skool,im even a drop out sef, and just yday i had 3 job offers i turned down,na wetin u know .
There are job oportunities everwhere.There is always a vacant position for an individual who has value to add to an organization. Employers of labour are looking for people with solution or ideas for solution to the problems and challenges facing their organizations. In other words they are interested in what you can do, not the litany of certificates you parade.

But the only way EMPLOYEES in nigeria atract those people is by the number of Certificatet they bring to the interview

Lets be honest if employees dont demand certificate students will be spending valuing time and effort arranging work experience instead of shelling out on certificate

^^
Right on.
Although it is not really the employers. Remember that the companies are populated by the same Nigerians who hold certificates, and their understanding of requirements is really the issue.

The companies that pay well, always look for ways of creating recruitment orifices, and end up with a pool of highly skilled and qualified, but grossly under-employed and overpaid staff. For example, the upstream oil majors require a minimum of a 2.1 degree, in many cases a masters degree or even a Phd, but the actual jobs held by the people are not in any way relevant to their qualifications. I know a Phd who works as a project expediter in one of the oil majors.

FINISHED UNIVERSITY AT THE AGE OF 21. . . . . . .
DNT BLAME ASUU EVERYTIME

ITS NIGERIA THAT IS JUST BAD

I had a manager back then who joined the company when he was 17 and acquired his university degree on ''2 days release per week''. He became a manager at 33. Having spent 13years with the company, he fully understands the job role. I do not believe that one can acquire all the skills you need in a job by spending so much time in school because when you leave school as a fresh graduate you'll still need on the job training to function effectively in your chosen role. I understand that our educational system does not help matters at all (ie incessant industrial actions and NYSC thing too which has lost it's purpose).

You are welcome back home my brother. Probably you were born abroad and lived all your life abroad. When you have you own kids in Nigerian try to bring them up in Nigeria and let them pass through Nigerian public educational system, probably, that will you an insight to you question.

You fren joined a company at the age of 17 in,UK , now i will ask you as an employer now in Nigeria if you will employ 17 year boy/girl who is not a graduate and without any expirience in your company? Are you gonna make the difference by employing them or do you still prefer a graduate?

You dont comapre your UK environment with that of Nigeria.

what happens is that if our Government will tackle corruption and Education,this will help the future generation especially in this era of cyber world.I too am not a fan of cert,but this is the posion that is destroying our country.certificate.

i ve a guy (an american) in my coy that has jst been made a manager .his also married wit 3 kids @ age 26.

Yeah we know that factors like strike, JAMB, WAEC results, finances prevent people from graduating on time but I will like to point out that even with those so called barriers, people still graduate from uni at early ages. I graduated at the age of 20 even with the first two months strike and the 2003 six months strike.Most of my mates graduated at 21, 22. I believe if you get into nursery, primary, secondary and Uni at the right age and time you will graduate at the right time even if you have a year or two strike (which i don't think has ever happened)

Like the poster rightly said, most people in the Uk are at management roles even at 21 or less but we have to remember that it's a difficult ball game in naija.
1.No one is going to employ you as a teenager when there are loads of graduates, uncles and aunties out there
2.Parents will prefer their children to concentrate on their studies first
3.In the Uk, people don't necessarily go for qualifications (Most of these Managers are not uni graduates)
There are loads of top level Managers who don't have Uni qualifications.
The only thing is that these days, they go for NVQs and some trainings and those 2days/1 week courses which we know won't make sense in Naija.

The 6-6-4 education system needs reformation. Nysc should be stopped cos it's a pure waste of time. The skill acquisition part of education needs more attention. A good example of an outcome of our poor education system is the over and underemployment going on in the labour sector; It's quite embrassing when an engineer is working as a bank cashier. Certificates and big grammer can't solve our problems. Certificates can be easily bought.

In the 60s, Nigeria's people were developing (both white-collar and blue-collar education), and the educational system (and economy) was also developing.

In the 70s, Nigeria's people continued to develop in both white-collar and blue-collar education, while the educational system (and economy) continued to develop.

In the 80s, Nigeria's people continued to develop in more of white-collar and less blue-collar education, while the educational system (and economy) started to decline.

In the 90s, Nigeria's people continued to develop in more of white-collar education (blue-collar education had collapsed), while the educational system (and economy) continued to decline.

In the 2000s, Nigeria's people continued to develop in more of white-collar education, especially now leaving the shores of Nigeria in pursuit of more white-collar education (blue-collar education had totally gone). Educational system had crashed, economy was trying to grow back.

Then came the global meltdown, and poof! goes economic growth.

As at today 2010, Nigeria's people have stacks of white-collar certificates which are way advanced beyond the educational system (totally declined) and economy (has not grown beyond the 60s).

That's really the problem.

what do you expect people to do when they get their first degree and still no job . . and every vacancy says at least masters even when it is a cleaning job?

. . and before you say they should start their own business, who will give them the line of credit . . . and how do you start your own business when you spent 24 hours of ur time in school, not like in the west where you can work while goin to school??

. . as long as you are looked down upon if you do not have a university degree, things will beging to look this way.

Technical colleges need to be revived and employees must be encouraged to be hiring from these schools.

But of course our power issues need to be sorted out first of all or we are just wasting our time.

sayso:

what happens is that if our Government will tackle corruption and Education,this will help the future generation especially in this era of cyber world.I too am not a fan of cert,but this is the posion that is destroying our country.certificate.

Yes the government should tackle corruption and also focus on education
But the Employers, who will be making use of these resources should also DEMAN FROM the government that the curriculem and emphasis on theory should be changed. They keep complaining about the quality of graduate without
doing anything to change the fundamemntals, they only donate money for buildings via adverts. The should partner NUC
in other to get relevant modules/practise into the university system.

They have taken the 'easier' option of importing chinese,philipinos etc etc thinking those will stay only for short the term.
They should be at the fore front of adopting newer work experience schemes, just like they did with CSR with the banks following each other in adopting one cause or the other.

Why Do Nigerians Spend So Much Time In School?
The system is faulty, dat`s why. The previous posters have said it all- Jamb, Waec, Strike, Delayed results, Missing scripts, Nysc, the list is endless.
Anyway, e go better!

princekevo:

You are welcome back home my brother. Probably you were born abroad and lived all your life abroad. When you have you own kids in Nigerian try to bring them up in Nigeria and let them pass through Nigerian public educational system, probably, that will you an insight to you question.

You fren joined a company at the age of 17 in,UK , now i will ask you as an employer now in Nigeria if you will employ 17 year boy/girl who is not a graduate and without any expirience in your company? Are you gonna make the difference by employing them or do you still prefer a graduate?

You dont comapre your UK environment with that of Nigeria.

PrinceKevo,
I guess you do not need to crucify Pa-Ken, I believe what he said can be put to practice in Nigeria, having worked abroad and appreciate employers not keen about my certificates but my ability to deliver, meets and exceed targets, it changed my orientation about the rationale behind worshiping certificates in Nigeria, I took up a short term role  as a technical Project Manager with a company on a 3G Optimization project  of one of the Mobile Operator's in Nigeria prior to its commercial launch late 2008.

I had to recruit the guys to be on my team, tons of CV had been received and on my selection criteria, experience far outweighs whatever certificates you have, at the end of the day I ended up not asking any of the successful guys to show me if they had a degree or not,  one of the top performers happens to be a Youth Corp member who had some experience and could deliver better than guys some guys with loads of certificates.

We really need to look inward and encourage ourselves to turn Nigeria to a better place to live, BTW while I was leaving after three months, the same was asked to act as the Project Manager and he is doing just great now, attended some PM oriented training and he's continued to be a top performer with more responsibilities.

feasy1:

PrinceKevo,
I guess you do not need to crucify Pa-Ken, I believe what he said can be put to practice in Nigeria, having worked abroad and appreciate employers not keen about my certificates but my ability to deliver, meets and exceed targets, it changed my orientation about the rationale behind worshiping certificates in Nigeria, I took up a short term role as a technical Project Manager with a company on a 3G Optimization project of one of the Mobile Operator's in Nigeria prior to its commercial launch late 2008.

I had to recruit the guys to be on my team, tons of CV had been received and on my selection criteria, experience far outweighs whatever certificates you have, at the end of the day I ended up not asking any of the successful guys to show me if they had a degree or not, one of the top performers happens to be a Youth Corp member who had some experience and could deliver better than guys some guys with loads of certificates.

We really need to look inward and encourage ourselves to turn Nigeria to a better place to live, BTW while I was leaving after three months, the same was asked to act as the Project Manager and he is doing just great now, attended some PM oriented training and he's continued to be a top performer with more responsibilities.

Thank you very much feasy1. I have gone through a lot of responses and I'm quite happy that we have spotted the loopholes in our educational system. It is now high time future employers desist from this craze about qualifications and start recruiting based on strengths, capabilities and technical know how a candidate will bring into an organization or establishment. I have already started in my own little way.