Billions of talented people continue to live in abject poverty due to the nature of the poor academic systems used in some parts of the world. Almost any given opportunity in today’s age requires one to have at least an undergraduate degree. We all know and understand the nature of the problems faced by people who do not have access to proper education and educational materials. One secret question hovers our minds and never gets a satisfactory answer…amidst the continuous population growth and rising dependency ratios, what are these people expected to do and where are they supposed to go?
For one to secure a job, every employer is demanding a degree upfront. For one to participate in a fellowship, contest, bootcamp or any other life-changing opportunity, most organisers list the undergraduate degree as the minimum requirement for participation. If one decides to migrate to another country that is conducive for their activities, a degree is needed for a work visa, which is so restricting for most talented individuals who are not degree holders. With the fast-growing numbers of challenges faced by their global communities, good examples being high population growth, climate change, water and sanitation, and challenges threatening aquatic life to mention a few, will the graduates be able to cope with the rising demand for solutions? What are non degreed innovators supposed to do?
It is a well-known fact that most students from the developing countries do not have access to proper education. Their academics are based on reciting textbooks instead of strategic thinking. As a result, most of the opportunities are channelled to undeserving candidates while those with the right skillsets are sidelined. Most employers, recruitment agents, organisers of life-changing opportunities and other communities have lost a good understanding of what it means to be an educated person and they now confuse certificates for education. The question remains…where are the talented non-degree holders supposed to go?
Most employers and tertiary academic institutions now have very strict requirements for their recruitments. Prospective candidates are expected to have average or better passes in subjects like mathematics, science and the English language, and prospective candidates that do not meet this requirement are automatically disqualified. A lot of companies list degrees as the minimum requirements for their recruitment, but we do have several extremely qualified candidates whose academic careers were greatly disturbed by wars, poverty, and other naturally occurring phenomenons. How is their survival supposed to be?
Discrimination against non-certificate holders has become a major issue of concern in the modern day world. This is a serious issue that requires the intervention of governments, human rights organisations and other powerful organisations such as the United Nations. Most companies have introduced the unsolicited idea submission policy which hinders talented freelancers from marketing their ideas to established corporates. Some brilliant innovators do not have access to capital to fund their innovations and bring them to life, at the same time they do not have the required academic qualifications to contest on the job markets. What are they supposed to do?
These talented people need to be absorbed into the mainstream economy so that they can contribute to the global development. This is will also reduce the dependency ratios amongst able-bodied populations.
Most youths in the developing world are now finding comfort and solace in antisocial practices such as drug abuse as corporates and organisations have turned their back on their brilliant projects just because they are not degreed. Drug abuse, early childhood marriages, broken families, anger, resentment, suicides, college and job dropouts are all direct results of this kind of discrimination which continues to insist that non degree holders are not an important part of the society.
What is discrimination, if we were to use honest and proper weighing of actions? Non degree holders are discriminated to such as an extent that they have become a useless part of the society. Non-degreed talented enthusiasts from the developing hardly have the chance to succeed without those certificates. It needs to be noted that these lone voices need a proper storytelling platform and we need to give them a sympathetic ear and understand the academic career disturbances they would have faced. Some of these non-degree holders we continue discriminating on a daily basis come from pathetic backgrounds with varying forms of situations; broken families, orphaned and child-headed families, abuse, forced career, poverty, lack of education and educational materials, disability and other circumstances beyond their control.
Let’s all campaign for proper education reforms to accommodate every global citizen.
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