PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
SPEECH BY THE CHIEF GUEST AND SPEAKER, PROF. MARGARET KOBIA,
PhD, CBS, CHAIRPERSON, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, ON THE
OCCASION
OF THE 23RD GRADUATION CEREMONY AT ST. PAUL’S
UNIVERSITY, HELD ON FRIDAY, 10TH OCTOBER 2014 AT THE MAIN
CAMPUS GRADUATION SQUARE, LIMURU.
Theme of the graduation: “Holistic Education for Global Transformation”
The Chancellor, The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia;
The University Council Chairman, The Most Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala;
The Council Vice Chairman, The Rev. Dr. Joseph Nthombura;
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Rev. David Gathanju;
Members of Council;
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Galgalo;
University Senate, Faculty;
Distinguished Guests;
Parents;
Graduands Class of 2014;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a humbling honour, and privilege for me to be with you today on
the occasion of the 23rd graduation ceremony.
First, I wish to
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congratulate the class of 2014 and welcome them to the world of
work and make a contribution in our growing economy. You are
special because you are entering the global market when Africa is
on the rise. Kenya’s economy is also doing well with GDP of 5.5 and
it feels good to be a Kenyan.
Globally, education has emerged as the new currency of the
Information Age and knowledge economy. It is no longer just one of
the many pathways to opportunity and success but a prerequisite. If
you look around, there simply aren't as many jobs or meaningful
economic opportunities today, for people with basic education.
Available evidence suggests that the quality of higher education is
substantially more important for economic growth than the mere
quantity of schooling. In other words, your cumulative lifetime
economic benefits will be determined more by your skills than the
number of years you took in school. Let me add that, your success
will not be measured by the type of degree but how you will put
your degree into good use.
Transition from University to the Work Environment
At this defining moment in Kenya’s economic and developmental
history, the social demand for a youthful population with the chance
to acquire relevant University education can never be more intense.
We live in a world where meaningful economic opportunities and
good jobs can be located anywhere with an Internet connection.
The graduate from St. Paul’s University in Nairobi will be competing
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with graduates from all the continents. Therefore, the most valuable
commodity you can sell is your relevant knowledge, skills and
competencies.
As young people, staying at University during your studies means
different things to different people. To some, it was an opportunity to
be free away from the overbearing and over—protective parents, to
others it was an opportunity to experience what it feels to be free
and being the manager of your own affairs and yet to others it was
indeed an opportunity to prepare the road to a fulfilling professional
life in the outside world.
Today’s graduation ceremony provides us with an opportunity to
reflect, for the last time, on how to convert our dreams, our University
education and experiences into professional and economic realities.
From my assessment I am convinced, that regardless of the discipline
in which you have been trained, the SPU curriculum has prepared all
of you to be, first and foremost, managers of yourselves, then of your
own opportunities before you can qualify to manage the affairs of
others. For the evidence, just look around the society where we live
and try picking out any one person who ever failed in managing
their own affairs but succeeded in managing the affairs of others.
Indeed such examples are hard to come by and in fact non-existent.
Application of Knowledge Acquired, Skills and Right Attitude to
Realize Benefits for Self and Add Value to Humanity
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As you step out into the next phase of your lives, it is imperative to
apply yourself effortlessly and in confidence to the emerging
opportunities as the beneficiary of a globally competitive education
which prepares graduates for global citizenship, service to humanity
and self.
Since time immemorial, the one thing that we often take for granted
during our college days, is the fact the University environment
allocates a special social fortification to us as students. In this
transition, I wish to advice our graduands that today’s graduation
effectively lifts that temporary soicial immunity. After college, those
risks that were previously spread across the group will get reconcentrated on us as individuals.
It is therefore, imperative to realize that the knowledge, skills and
competencies acquired through your education at SPU will only be
of value if we are able to scan our environment to identify and avoid
the risks that we face as the youth.
I also wish to advise our
graduands today that success only comes to those who have
worked and planned for it. You just need to commit yourselves to
excellence in everything you put your mind to do.
Applying benefits of Christian spiritual formation received at SPU
As alumni of SPU, you have had the benefit of undergoing a unique
spiritual Christian formation that separates you from other graduates.
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This single attribute places you as SPU graduates in good position of
demonstrating better positive externalities from your education.
As recipients of a wholesome education integrating a Christian
dimension, the society expects graduates of this University to willingly
apply their spiritual upbringing in assuming the position of peer-role
models in tackling the social ills of our society such as corruption,
tribalism, political violence, drug and substance abuse, intolerance,
among others.
Remember ; The fear of God is the beginning of
wisdom.
What Public Service Sector Is Doing In Terms Of Developing Careers
At this point, I wish to take the opportunity to urge our students and
graduates that public sector is undergoing major transformations in
ways that are already making it the employer of choice. For those of
us who are keen on developing a professional career after
graduation, never hesitate to consider joining the public service. As
you may know, we have always been urged to be the change that
we want to see. You have an opportunity to be part of that change
should you get a job in public service. Governments world over are
measured by the extent in which they deliver goods and services to
the citizens. The mechanism to delivering services is through public
service.
Effective and efficient public service supports economic
growth and development for wealth and job creation.
You are
aware that the public sector spends colossal proportions of its
budget on continuous training to its employees. These trainings
produce better performance and more capable personnel with
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enhanced labour market premium for their own job mobility and
professional growth.
The Role of the Young People in the Public Service Sector
From literature and observations, it is indeed clear that our fresh
graduates, from our very own local universities, are the ones driving
a thriving knowledge economy based on cutting edge innovation
and entrepreneurship in the private sector. The efficiency and
productivity gains from these innovations outweigh the initial private
sector investments that support these innovations.
The public sector, where I work, has formulated deliberate policies
and strategies for public sector reforms that seek to enhance the
efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services. Drawing from
the evidence on the contribution of our graduates to the growth of
a knowledge economy in the private sector, the Public Service
Commission is more than keen on making the public sector a
competitive employer that will attract more and more of the young
and skilled and IT savvy graduates.
So encouraging are the results from the economic contribution of
the young graduates in the private sector that we, as the Public
Service Commission, is determined to tap the potential of the existing
pool of skilled young graduates and leverage this emerging
potential to improve public sector performance and productivity of
both national and county Government.
I wish to also encourage the graduates who are keen on going into
entrepreneurship that the Government’s commitment to allocating
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economic opportunities through public sector tenders is real. Do not
leave University today to hang around for as long as it takes waiting
for that formal job, make effort and tap into these publicly provided
economic opportunities. There is a job out there for whoever wants
to innovate and work.
In Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to summarise my speech into ten points that you will take
home with you.
(1)
No one ever opens their enterprise to make you rich even as
you spend precious time in the quest for that elusive
opportunity in formal employment;
(2)
The fastest growing frontier in the economy is that on
innovation and knowledge driven entrepreneurship; you are
entering Kenyans debased economy;
(3)
Good school grades initially place you ahead of the
competition but it is the will and the determination for
excellence that will keep you at the top of the performance
curve;
(4)
The transition from the University into the outside world
effectively lifts the little social immunities that we take for
granted while on campus;
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(5)
In the world outside the University, everyone is on their own and
it is only how you apply your education and make use of the
limited opportunities that will separate you from the rest;
(6)
The
difference
between
developing
and
developed
economies, and by extension the rich and the poor – the
successful and the less successful – may very well be explained
by their positive attitudes, choices that they make and how
they use time;
(7)
Meaningful employment opportunities are far in between and
that the easiest way to waste your first three or more years after
University is to leave this ceremony with the mind-set that you
must get a good formal job because you are educated;
(volunteer even in a community service);
(8)
A good motivation for results and self-improvement is by far
more important than a high IQ; It is easier to blame somebody
else rather than confront the challenge;
(9)
Irrespective of the type of families we come from, there is one
resource we all have in equal measure at birth,further, the
greatest gift God gave each one of us is the gift of making
choices. You will be defined by choices that you will make.
(10) Finally, your future success is in your own hands and entirely
depends on your ability to apply your educated mind in
selecting the best option from among the present alternatives.
Once again, Congratulations to this year’s Graduands
I thank You All& God Bless
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