Rwanda’s got talent, and don’t you forget it!

I CANNOT even begin to relate just how often I hear people say, quite annoyingly I must add, that local universities produce “half-baked graduates”. You will hear this on television, in the media and in daily conversation. People complain that they can barely write a legible job application and when they DO get a job, the simplest tasks are beyond them. And to tell the truth, I’m sick and tired of that simplistic narrative. When I tell someone that I, along with many of my friends and accomplished colleagues, studied in those ‘poor schools’, they often respond that we “are different”. “Why”, I ask, “didn’t we go through the same KIST and NUR doors that you besmirch on a daily basis”? “Are we incompetent”? “Are the people who graduated from fancy, foreign universities better at their jobs than we are”? “I doubt it”. The Miss Geek event that took place in Kigali on Saturday proved my point. Organised by Girls in ICT Rwanda, the event aimed at showcasing just how tech savvy and innovative the girls in our universities are. Although Nancy Sibo, who emerged Miss Geek 2014, is a student in the faculty of agricultural engineering, she won the event with her ‘Mobile Cow’ app, and she was just one of the 25 students who pitched their ideas in the contest. Speaking to a friend of mine who attended the event, I learnt that each and every one of those girls, who presented their ideas with clarity and eloquence, went through a public speaking and presentation workshop for a week. In a mere week, with the help of interested and focused mentors, these girls were able to stand in front of an intimidating audience and do well. The magic word here people is ‘mentors’. In my experience, university students are callow and often have their heads in the clouds. It doesn’t matter whether they are from Wichita or Musanze. They are all the same, which is okay. The difference is what people expect from them when they earn a degree. Elsewhere, they are treated with kid’s gloves and allowed to grow not only as workers but also as human beings. They are mentored and encouraged to do as many internships as possible. Yet here, they are given the keys to the kingdom and told ‘swim’ or sink. And when they do sink, we say “look at them; they can’t do anything”. In my opinion, a university’s job is to give its students a basic level of knowledge about their chosen career path. It should be the job market that completes their education. Employers need to stop being reactive and become more proactive. A few months ago, I was chatting with a lawyer friend of mine about this issue. “Why”, I asked him, “didn’t your law firm work closely with the University of Rwanda law faculty to present yearly internship slots to law school students who want to work during their long vacation”? The way I envisaged it, the law firm would get gofers able to perform the most menial tasks, like delivering summons and what not, leaving the associates and partners to do the real legwork. The law firm would get to systematically train its prospective labour force cheaply, teaching them the ethos of the company and cherry picking the best of the bunch. For the students who didn’t get a job in that law firm, they’d be able to gain oh so important work experience. Giving them an advantage in the competitive job market. Back when we were in school, the only places we could get some experience was during the yearly Expo. And those jobs taught very little. As an aspiring writer, I was fortunate to be able to work at The New Times during the holidays. The pay wasn’t great but it allowed me to grow as a writer, journalist and editor. And lo behold! As soon as I graduated I had a job waiting for me. The employer had shaped me and now was reaping the rewards. I know that there are thousands of smart, willing and driven university students just waiting for a chance to shine. Like those smart girls who everyone admired at the Miss Geek event, all they need is a little time spent on them. There is a lot of talent in our academic sea; what we need to do is groom that talent in a systematic manner. No matter how talented they seem, they need all the support that they can get. And currently, they simply aren’t getting it. The author is a post-graduate student Twitter: @sannykigali

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Rwanda’s got talent, and don’t you forget it!