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Latwell Nyangu-Youth Interactive Writer
Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy, you can’t build on it, it’s only good for wallowing in.
The above adage is aptly a summary of my piece this week on how we are losing the academic plot when we go for attachment.
Number one rule, never regret as a student when you have the opportunity. There is someone out there who doesn’t have that chance of going to university. Industrial attachment is an essential part of every student’s academic programme.
It is a key and integral part of tertiary education. Its incorporation into the learning process is aimed at imparting practical skills to students, which cannot be acquired in classrooms. But it seems many of us are flopping by focusing on wrong and temporary things.
We are getting lost while at Work Related Learning (WRL), fellow students. The most interesting part about this platform, I write what I know and see.
There is one interesting thing when we go for attachment, we give our parents hopes as they are always proud of us despite our bloopers.
It’s a moment, they will start believing in our career paths but the disappointing part is when we fail to go back to college after attachment to finalise, graduate and get the certificate. Our minds become shortsighted at times, as we will be thinking about work rather than going back to college.
Fellow students, some of us abandon every process required while on attachment, reports, dissertations among others.
We are forgetting the purpose why we are at college. Yes, we want to be employed, but if you don’t have that certificate you remain incompetent. Let’s finish the race and we enjoy the fruits with recognition.
If you don’t return to college after attachment, automatically you defer or you will have nothing to show.
The worst part of regrets, we realise it when it’s too late.
There are many things which happen when students go for attachment, I will highlight a few but my focus is one, failure to return to college and complete the course.
This has left me worried and many ruing lost opportunities.
Some of the students on attachment are falling trap to exposure of different experiences.
The cases of being mischievous at work, getting drunk, dating bosses, not going to work, indiscipline among others. But my focus this week is on how some students behave. I know some can tell me, it’s none of my business or they can claim that they are adults.
Like I always say, there are no kids at college. In Shona they say, hakuna dhibhi remhuru (there is no dip tank for calves).
University is not a kids’ game, it all goes to responsibility and focus.
Despite calling ourselves young adults, we are losing our way by not going back to college after the lapse of our attachment periods.
Attachment periods vary, depending on college and programme pursued. The longest attachment is one year.
Some end up securing some jobs and forget to return to college to finalise last semesters which are critical for attaining the certificates and graduation.
Sadly, most of us end up not doing the final touches and put much focus on employment.
We cast our minds on things that are temporary. Some of us change everything the moment we get attached.
We become untouchable and feel important, worse when we are attached to institutions which pay us something.
Let me share a short story, when I have energy, I do some part time lecturing in line with my profession.
Since I have been doing that, I have noticed that most of the students who come during the night have been sent to acquire a certificate.
Most of them are practicing but without certificates. Among those, most of them dropped college while on attachment.
So there comes a time of appraisals and you appear not to have a certificate. It will be difficult to explain that you were once a student.
These days, certificates are part of your competence at work, if you have nothing to show, you are nothing. Just finish what you started and you will enjoy the fruits.
Normally the last semesters are shorter and less busy.
What students experience during industrial attachment differ, as some benefit while others find the placement to be a waste of time and resources. It is a structured, credit-bearing work experience in a professional work setting during which the student applies and acquires knowledge and skills.
Attachment involves the application of learned skills in an organisation related to the students’ major.
An industrial attachment should challenge the student to examine the values of the organisation involved in the experience, and to assess the student’s education as it relates to the industrial attachment.
All this helps, grooming a student to be a critical thinker as well as evaluate work related tasks.
When you go for attachment, you get more networks, skills, opportunities.
Formal qualifications have become a necessity for permanent employment and participation in present-day society.
There are some students who are getting too excited with being at the industrial attachment.
I have no problem with that, but some of us are forgetting to get back to finalise the course.
There are many disadvantages to that, you remain a mere student who was at college but with nothing to show off, a certificate to be precise.
This actually accords the learner room to construct knowledge, skills and values from direct experience.
It’s true, attachment enhances cross-training which allows students to experience and practice different work related skills.
Tertiary education institutions focus to a larger extent on professional career development. These include universities, polytechnics, teachers’ colleges, vocational training centres and agricultural colleges to mention some.
The institutions can be either government (public) or privately owned.
A combination of classroom theory and work-related learning is the right platform for producing future workers in whatever way, who are also critical thinkers, researchers, pragmatists, and informed decision-makers.
Universities and colleges also benefit from the interface with industry and use the feedback to continually strive to produce students who are fit for the market.
In the same vein, the industrial attachment programmes are used as strategies to secure employability for students soon after graduation, and they also ensure a holistic.
Industrial training is provided to the students so that they are capable of implementing and applying the subjects practically.
It also helps and enables the student in improving their knowledge as well as improves the versatility of the student and helps them in boosting their career and also gain confidence.
Finish the race and we have a toast!
Online Reporter