Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Social

Brian Mbulawa, an Information Technology (IT) graduate from Limkokwing University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, sums up his frustrations and those of his peers thus: “It is tough and stressful especially for us IT graduates. Wherever you go looking for a job they want people with three to five years experience. Where would I get five years experience when I am just from school?”

Brian says he has been applying for jobs since completing his studies, and has not been called for a single interview. He has been dropping off copies of his curriculum vitae, like a newspaper vendor at every office in town, and is getting desperate by the day. 

His desperation, as is the case with all tertiary level graduates, is borne out of the fact that while at university he received an allowance. It kept him going. At least he was able to buy some toiletry. 

The shift becomes particularly cruel when the graduate cannot even get taxi fare to drop off his or her application letter. 

Everyday simply becomes an attempt to survive, even as the graduate realises how starkly different, and cruel life outside university is. The graduate, who not long ago had hoped to get a job and support his poor family, suddenly finds themselves looking up to the family for support. 

There couldn`t be greater indignity. The euphoria that accompanied the graduate on his or her graduation day suddenly dissipates, and is replaced by utter sadness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies among those with shorter thresholds for pain.

“It is hard, considering the fact that I am not working, and I have to depend on other people like my parents. 

And I had to cut out some things from my life to reduce costs and maintain budget,” says 21-year- old Lemogang Matsuane who is a graduate of the Botswana College of Engineering and Technology. Among the greatest indignities graduates can suffer is being cut off completely from the information super highway.

At university all graduates had access to computers and free internet, and they had friends. All that ceases upon their graduation. In fact, some graduates can go for up to two years without a computer. 

That means they have no idea of what is happening in the world around them. They cannot afford Botswana`s expensive newspapers. And they cannot communicate with their friends. It is expensive to make a call in Botswana. That makes life very miserable.Desperate times call for desperate measures. So to earn a living some graduates turn to the unflattering side of life. Some become prostitutes while others turn to crime. 

Yet others take anything that promises to give them a wage. That includes working as shop assistants or for Ipelegeng programme, or house keepers. 

Only through sheer will to survive do they wake up every morning to these lowly jobs. It is the faith that one morning, they will find a proper job, for the darkest hour always means joy is in sight. Botswana`s official unemployment rate stands at 17.8 per cent as per Botswana Core Welfare Indicators Survey 2009/10. 

Meanwhile, according to a story in the 17 December, 2012 Daily News issue, of the 5 000 National Internship applicants awaiting placement, 2 453 fall within the ICT bracket. 

Director of Department of National Internship Programme (DNIP), Ms Bathsheba Mbongwe says the output of IT graduates is overwhelming. Mbongwe says majority of the applicants are diploma holders.

She says currently 3 200 interns are serving in various organizations including government, expressing concern at the slow rate at which the economy absorbed graduates. She attributed the slow absorption rate to Botswanas small job market base, lack of experience and mismatch between skills development and actual job requirements. ENDS

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