Diplomas for the wall.

In a time where our country goes from bad to worse, the young people are called upon and are expected to put order in a mess that is beyond control. In a moment of crisis and decisive period, young people are receiving daily criticism from the “adults” as well as from the Media. Characterizations like “the couch generation”, “the dead beats» etc have now been incorporated in adults’ vocabulary every time they confront a young person. The two sides agree only on one thing: the only weapon against the status quo is schooling and education.
Recent researches showed that at least 54% of young people between the ages of 15-25 are unemployed. In the meantime, Greece has one of the most difficult education systems of the world. We all know or have at least heard of taxi drivers with medical degree, waiters with a Master’s degree or employees at a grill house with a degree from a polytechnic university. Clearly, the examples are random but are not part of our imagination. “Are these diplomas any good?” one could ask… But of course, they ‘re in a kitchen, a living room, nice and dusty.. hanging on the wall!!!
What are the reasons that lead to this impasse?
Is it the non existent career guidance or maybe the parents’ urging towards their children to become something that they desire? In any case, Greece concentrates many doctors, lawyers, economists and other professions with profound background of knowledge and studies. That results in 2/3 of them being unemployed and trying to find a job somewhere out of their field.
For facing this “phenomenon”, career guidance at school is important, as it gives the opportunity to young people to choose the career that suits them. Also, through long lasting and painful attempts the educational system must change and from technocratic it must become anthropocentric. This will help young people psychologically and knowledge wise.
One thing is for sure; the bigger the pressure from the grownups towards the younger, the harder the things get. For this reason, the two sides must face the problem from the same side, so that we no longer see diplomas “hanging on the wall”.

Alexander (18 years old)