Employment in PNG

Letters

EACH year tertiary institutions around Papua New Guinea receive new intakes, and also send graduates into fields.
It is normal practice that students have to work hard to secure space or maintain GPAs to graduate.
I would like to take a breather from it all to express my sympathy for the much-missed opportunities after graduating.
Graduates from universities, technical colleges and vocational schools are part of the unfortunate population.
They have missed all the balls despite mastering the kicking practices for years.
It’s a shame if it is to be put on a live soccer match.
A tooth grinding for the supporters (sponsors).
After years of struggles and sacrifice, it seems there is nowhere cooler to take a breather.
The only possibility is to take it under the sun.
It simply means, graduates have to go into informal sector to earn a living or work in different profession from theirs.
A broken dream.
I was once questioned by a table mama at the Gapstoa Market in Madang while buying her betel nut.
Without a conversation bridge, she suddenly said: “I feel sad seeing new intakes each year, because the old man never leaves his seat until he kicks the bucket.
“Where else would you guys go after graduating?”
The answer was literal.
She reminded me that it is not only nepotisim that is the cause of a obless population.
Retirement age workers are also causing the jam for young career builders.
The retirement age is 65.
Why do we still notice greyed-haired people walking office corridors everywhere?
A country needs strong human resource to push forward for development.
Papua New Guinea needs strong and youthful human resource to speed up the service and development phase.
Thereon, the likely and the retiring age should now give this time for the graduates to build early and not in their late 30s.

Jason Paisoi
Tubusereia Primary School