No End In Sight

When I got admitted into the university after taking the entrance exam the second time, I thought I had taken a significant step towards changing my life, and it ought to be. I don't know about other students whom I like to think unfortunate today, to have ended up in the federal tertiary education system, but it don't feel that way anymore.

I got a course of study that was supposed to last five years and thinking today, I realised I've technically spent more than five years here, and I still have finished my penultimate year. In case you're wondering how that is, it's as a result of the incessant strike action by the universities lecturers union. These people have been at loggerheads with the federal govt (their principal and employer) since what? 2009. So, it's quite unbelievable that they haven't found a solution to their sh*t.

Up to two of the five years plus I've been here have been mired with numerous strike actions. For a problem that goes way back to 2009, you would think they would have found a solution and implemented it by now, but I guess not.

Most times when they are doing this sh*t, it's the students who just want to be trained and taught that ends up suffering the consequences. Whenever there's a strike, the different parties will be pointing at another to shift the blame. These people once stayed away from the classroom for almost a year in the name of settling a dispute, when a resolution was reached, they were still paid their whole salary for the eight months period. So, it was more like an elongated paid leave and vacation for them. The true victims of this constant shameful drama, are the students, whose life is usually put on hold when things are like this.

We suffer for their lack of political or individual will to negotiate effectively. In the time they are on strike, we can't commit to anything cos we don't never know when they'll call it off. This cause us to loss, time, money, wealth, and if cares not taken our sanity. The government is as complicit in this as the unions.

When last did you as a graduate go out to look for a job? Let me guess, they required a 5years working experience. In a system where young students life are wasted long enough, they tend to turn up older than they could possibly have thought before going to school.

With such a system, how can a sane human being be requiring 5years working experience from people between the age bracket of twenty to twenty two. I mean, come on man, how am I gonna have a five years experience by the age of twenty two when years had been added to my time at school by these industrial actions. It's unfair and quite frankly, it borders discrimination.

I really don't know why I'm writing this, it's not like it'll change anything, but I guess I just needed to let some of that go. The worst part is with the elections around the corner, I doubt that those in govt have any time to think of coming to the negotiating table since they are too busy trying to get reelected and reappointed.

This article is probably very substandard. Please, bear with me, as I'm currently both sleepy and very pained... Thanks for reading my articles