The Rise of the Educated Jobless?: A Personal Reflection
- Dr Nuraliah Norasid
- 15 Jan 2017
- 7 min read
The edict set in the cement blocks of our consumer-oriented society is, “whither there be demand, thither shalt be supply” and when that demand is a grade on a sheet, actual learning is gradually overtaken by the odious ‘how-to’s of acing an examination. Tuition centres have chief executive officers (CEOs) now and tutors are routinely photographed in suits and blazers as if they are trying to sell you a house rather than bumping up some poor student’s Mathematics grades from an F9 to an A2. The standards of any of these centres can be so contrived that a tutor without an “English” enough accent are told to either somehow acquire one or leave.
As part of a review and analysis done on the private educational sector here in Singapore, I have discovered that our tiny country has over 300 private institutions which are affiliated to well-known overseas universities. Despite this, the private qualification does not necessarily guarantee an easy passage into the workforce as private institution graduates continue to face challenges, one of which is in finding permanent employment which also pays them competitively.
In the same vein of education demand and supply, private education institutions emerged as a supplying entity within an economic environment where a degree is often a pre-requisite to a decent paycheck. Ideally, students would secure places in one of the local universities, preferably the two more established ones — the National University of Singapore (NUS) or Nanyang Technological University (NTU). However, the two universities’ Indicative Grade Profiles (IGP) with representative grades in the lower percentiles being mostly ‘A’s with the odd ‘B’ for flavour means that many are unable to make the cut. Those who are unable to secure a place in local universities are most likely to pursue a degree in private institutions because the prevailing mentality is that any degree is better than no degree.
It seems like a sound enough plan, with many pursuing Bachelor degrees in accountancy, business and management subjects, which in the common parlance is often referred to as “general degrees”. ‘Sound enough’ until the recent news about lower employment rates of private degree holders and the significantly lower salaries drawn compared to their peers from local universities. Prior to that, private education institutions have been in the limelight for being plagued with continuity and credibility issues. Several institutions have even closed down, leaving many students, who have sunk their money into their education there, stranded. The local degree holders do not have it entirely rosy either as they, too, are affected by rising unemployment rates and a saturated job market as many are also taking up positions in which they are overqualified for. It is increasingly common for graduates to take up freelance or part-time occupations that they have some level of skill in. Anybody who has taken a GrabCar, Uber or taxi before would have met at least one degree holder, even a postgraduate degree holder, who drives part-time to keep afloat.