The Editor, Sir:

With reference to your lead story 'No jobs for slobs' published yesterday, does the UWI or UTech have a career office like other colleges in the United States? These are the folks who should be arranging internships, and after-school placements. Are internships built into certain programmes, like computer science, as part of the curriculum? Are there career days where employers come to hire?

If so, are the placement percentages publicly available? These are the questions any parent or potential student should ask in determining which college to spend a lot of money over the next four years.

If the universities cannot compete, then they should be replaced. If the career office cannot place students, then they should be replaced with people who can. I would suggest offering career counselling services as universities/colleges on a whole generally do a really poor job of preparing graduates for the job market and life in general.

Perhaps it's that I had this discussion with my friends not too long ago why it struck home. As someone in my mid-30s, I had a hard time connecting with the younger guys there who were complaining that there were no jobs in Jamaica except for Digicel and that it was the Government's fault. The whole concept of self-reliance and taking responsibility for their actions was foreign to them. They wanted a job out of high school that paid them a lot of money so they could buy a 'criss' car and clothes. I also pointed out to them that since living in the U.S., that had not happened either but they insisted that I didn't understand and that it was the Government's fault!

No humility

Bottom line is they have no humility but expect the world, and no matter how I tried to explain that I had to start at the bottom but that I was motivated to finish college so that I could have what I have now, they only saw what my material possessions are now. They don't want to know about the journey to get here.

They need a reality check; they are greedy, self-righteous and self-indulgent. Is it the parents, the teachers or everybody's punching bag, the Government? It's probably all three, but if I grew up hearing my parents blame the Government for everything, I would probably regurgitate the same bile. If I heard my parents say that education in Jamaica was horrible but then they never checked my homework, perhaps I wouldn't be able to compose this e-mail. If my parents never took responsibility for their actions, neither would I.

I am, etc.,

KWAME GORDON-MARTIN

New York