Go out and prove yourselves, UB graduates told

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Tuesday October 12, 2010 00:00

Of the total six were PhD graduands, one Mphil, 214 Masters Degree whilst the rest were Degree, Diploma and Certificate graduates from various fields of specialty.

Speaking at the ceremony, UB Vice Chancellor, Professor Bojosi Otlhogile said he was proud that among the graduates were students from seven new programmes that were graduating for the first time.

The programmes include Bachelors Degrees in Tourism and Hospitality and Medical Laboratory Sciences whilst other programmes were Masters Degrees in Computer Information Systems, Agronomy, Nutrition, Politics and International Relations and Mechanical Engineering.

Otlhogile said that graduating students should not forget that they were the future of the nation and that their duty thereafter was to join the world of work and contribute to the country's economy and society.

He urged them to celebrate their success and treat their mixed feelings of joy and sadness as something normal of a journey well completed.

 'It is now time for you to go out there and prove to the world that you are well prepared to serve the nation and deal with life's challenges,' he said. 

Guest speaker Regina Sikalesele-Vaka said that the composition of the labour force today has changed significantly with more graduates unable to find formal placement.

The former UB graduate said that in the past getting a job was guaranteed, because all a student needed was 'to survive their lecturers, remain sober enough to meet the minimum requirements and to collect their certificate at the end of three or four years'.

Sikalesele-Vaka warned that graduates today have 'to adjust to changing trends and also market themselves more aggressively'. She said graduates needed to position themselves in a way relevant to the economy.

'Most importantly you must position yourself to become creators of jobs or employers instead of employees.

The reality is that the formal sector cannot absorb all of you because it needs to be stimulated and nurtured by enlightened people like you,' she said.