On a typical Saturday morning, as my mom turned on the T.V. and with nothing really interesting to watch on ABS-CBN, she tuned in to Cinema One. THAT always wakes me up on a Saturday morning (I sleep on the couch) and because I couldn't go back to sleep anymore, I,well, spent the first few hours of my day on a movie released years before I came to Earth -- The Graduates.
Very timely indeed, it's March! The movie starred the stars of 80's. A graduation ceremony opens it and a class reunion sets the ending -- and what's in between? Of course the "what happened to who after graduation".
- Snooky, a rich, and intelligent young lady, ended up planning to put up a business with her boyfriend, Gabby, a rich kid who got everything he wanted, who by the way once tried to go illegal with smuggled guns.
- Lani put up her own restaurant, supposedly with her best friend Dina, whose dad was accused of estafa.
- Selling all kinds of good to anyone, Gina ended up marrying a doctor to whom she 'sold herself' and had a good life.
- Ronnie stayed in his talyer fixing cars, and breaking them to claim money from the insurance company where Orestes worked as a clerk, and earned more from his under the table commissions.
-Joel, the simple guy, by the end of the year received an award for a successful project on peace as an executive assistant of their barangay.
- Though highly qualified with her diploma, Maricel settled on baby sitting, left with no choice because no company would hire her.
- And the leadership awardee, William, refused to work abroad and work under foreign companies with the belief that Filipinos should not be 'colonized' again, and spent his year working for their University's annual.
...................
A new batch of graduates, thousands of them,will be there marching (or have marched already) with a little fear perhaps but full of hope for their future. But really, "what will happen to who" after graduation?
My fellow instructor asked me once,"What would you feel if you see your former student, who finished a 4-year course, selling stuff on the street?" I immediately said, "At least, he has a job, and he's not a bum." And when I actually saw a former student (he's my student in Philippine literature) on the street selling bananas, I wondered, what happened to his degree? Was he able to use it in any way? Or is it just that there are very little opportunities for him? So what was the 4-years (or more) of being in school for? What was his diploma for? (Has my subject Philippine literature helped him in any way?) Was it his teachers to blame? The university? The government? Him? ..........And more questions in mind..and I guess I have even more questions for those who were left unemployed after graduation.
A quarterly data of the government statistics office reported that there are 2.92 million unemployed Filipinos in the country, and this rate is among the highest jobless rates in Southeast Asia. And 17.8% of these are college graduates.
Yes, these are just statistics, but this is an alarming fact. If those who finished college cannot have a job, what more are those who didn't even reach high school? Or should it be, do you really have to have a college degree to land into a job? Is the 4-year college program an enough training to make us prepared for the future? Or should we be just thrown into the ocean and choose right then and there whether to get drowned or learn how to swim?
After receiving their diplomas, these graduates will have to go face this what they call "real world". A lot may not be fully aware that it's harsh out there. That their diplomas are NOT enough weapons to fight the "battle" of survival in this brutally sweet world. Their dream bubble of a "good life ahead because you've got a college degree" might suddenly be poked right in front of them. Reality check.
There's nothing wrong about being idealistic, but one cannot escape the reality, so they should strike a balance between the two. No one knows after all. They might go big time, or maybe not. They might go illegal, or maybe not. And they might probably be part of that increasing percentage of college graduates who are jobless, or, maybe not.
For now, let them march their way to receiving their hard-earned (or maybe not) diplomas. Congratulations, Batch 2012! :)
Cue: Aida March
Yes, these are just statistics, but this is an alarming fact. If those who finished college cannot have a job, what more are those who didn't even reach high school? Or should it be, do you really have to have a college degree to land into a job? Is the 4-year college program an enough training to make us prepared for the future? Or should we be just thrown into the ocean and choose right then and there whether to get drowned or learn how to swim?
After receiving their diplomas, these graduates will have to go face this what they call "real world". A lot may not be fully aware that it's harsh out there. That their diplomas are NOT enough weapons to fight the "battle" of survival in this brutally sweet world. Their dream bubble of a "good life ahead because you've got a college degree" might suddenly be poked right in front of them. Reality check.
There's nothing wrong about being idealistic, but one cannot escape the reality, so they should strike a balance between the two. No one knows after all. They might go big time, or maybe not. They might go illegal, or maybe not. And they might probably be part of that increasing percentage of college graduates who are jobless, or, maybe not.
For now, let them march their way to receiving their hard-earned (or maybe not) diplomas. Congratulations, Batch 2012! :)
Cue: Aida March
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