I do not understand and I am constantly baffled by employers in Trinidad and Tobago. There is some history that I must get into before I could make my point. A few years back when in his Budget Speech the Honourable Prime Minister announced that the government would bear the full cost of tertiary education tuition I was one of the few people who were not pleased by this initiative. I must admit though that I may have been selfish in wanting the government to remain paying for only half of the tuition cost. The reason for my point of view is that I felt that this initiative cheapened the entire tertiary education system in Trinidad and Tobago. As no longer were persons committing to programmes because they really wanted to do it but more because they could now afford to do it. In my opinion it caused people to attach little value to the tertiary education experience. Institutions were then in a mad rush to enroll as many students as possible in order to cash in on the governments payment.
Now as a University student myself at the time I was really disappointed with this initiative because I was always one of the students who demanded quality in what I paid for. Now this GATE initiative brought with it the belief that school was free. But exactly what is free, there was no direct cost to the student but in the long run we as citizens would all be paying for it. Whether we pay for it by our monthly pay as you earn tax contribution or by not getting the health care system we need because money is being spent on tuition. I personally saw the difference in the performance of some lecturers, as there were no explanations given for missed classes, and extra assistance that was already minimal ceased.
Now bear with me as I tie this into my frustration with employers in Trinidad and Tobago. With the large number of degree holders persons in society I don’t know if employers feel that they now need make a degree a requirement for some existing jobs. For example how is it that it a requirement to have a degree for a job that entails photo copying and filing. Now any University of The West Indies student would be familiar with photocopying on the ground floor of the library waiting in line and the machines sticking and stealing your money. But come on, no student when sweating on fourth floor of the library (literally because the AC was not working for some time) did not envisage using their three year degree to photocopy, type and file. How are the young ambitious people of this society expected to be challenged to achieve their full potential. This is the situation I find myself in currently. Now don’t get me wrong I am nicely compensated and I am grateful to God for that great compensation but come on we can do better than this. Needless to say I am employed in the public service. So I am here feeling like I tiefing the government money in these times of a looming recession. The sad thing is that if I am sitting here with little to do how many other people are there in this same building who are also being paid well to do little or nothing at all. Now let us expand that how many people do you think there are in the entire public service sitting around doing nothing and being paid tax payer’s money. Now I have two options I could sit here and do nothing and be a tief or I could look for another job and quickly escape this torture. I choose the latter.
Now as a University student myself at the time I was really disappointed with this initiative because I was always one of the students who demanded quality in what I paid for. Now this GATE initiative brought with it the belief that school was free. But exactly what is free, there was no direct cost to the student but in the long run we as citizens would all be paying for it. Whether we pay for it by our monthly pay as you earn tax contribution or by not getting the health care system we need because money is being spent on tuition. I personally saw the difference in the performance of some lecturers, as there were no explanations given for missed classes, and extra assistance that was already minimal ceased.
Now bear with me as I tie this into my frustration with employers in Trinidad and Tobago. With the large number of degree holders persons in society I don’t know if employers feel that they now need make a degree a requirement for some existing jobs. For example how is it that it a requirement to have a degree for a job that entails photo copying and filing. Now any University of The West Indies student would be familiar with photocopying on the ground floor of the library waiting in line and the machines sticking and stealing your money. But come on, no student when sweating on fourth floor of the library (literally because the AC was not working for some time) did not envisage using their three year degree to photocopy, type and file. How are the young ambitious people of this society expected to be challenged to achieve their full potential. This is the situation I find myself in currently. Now don’t get me wrong I am nicely compensated and I am grateful to God for that great compensation but come on we can do better than this. Needless to say I am employed in the public service. So I am here feeling like I tiefing the government money in these times of a looming recession. The sad thing is that if I am sitting here with little to do how many other people are there in this same building who are also being paid well to do little or nothing at all. Now let us expand that how many people do you think there are in the entire public service sitting around doing nothing and being paid tax payer’s money. Now I have two options I could sit here and do nothing and be a tief or I could look for another job and quickly escape this torture. I choose the latter.
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