LETTER | After SPM, comes some hard choices for school-leavers to make

LETTER | Recently, our 18-year-olds received their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2022 examination results. Some passed with flying colours, while some did not. And for some others, it did not even matter.

School-leavers will now have to make a choice: to further their study or call it a day. And whichever path they choose, they will have to make another decision: which one would be better for them in the long run?

Surely, they will have to consult those who have been through this before. Parents, family members, seniors, friends, and to some extent, strangers, may have a thing or two to share when it comes to this life-making decision.

In fact, many will come to help these youngsters with various beliefs and principles.

Some believe that choosing to further your study will be the better option, as the power of education can unlock one’s myriad capabilities toward a desired future.

Some others would insist that higher education is costly, and in recent years, has proven to be not worthwhile, thus, leading many to think that heading into the job market should suffice to ensure a bright future.

There are also some who try to incorporate the two options, saying that instead of higher education, the young ones should go for professional certifications.

They argue that this would take a shorter time to finish than pursuing a course of study in a university, while also providing better security when it comes to career and entrepreneurship.

Regardless of the options or beliefs people have about the youth’s future, one thing has always somehow slipped from everyone’s minds. With all the opinions, offers, and choices that exist for school-leavers, we often forget to ask them: “What exactly is it that you want to do?”

Many may believe that asking this question is not a smart move, let alone a relevant one. The general stereotyping among us when it comes to children and their future would be that youngsters are incapable of making the right decisions for themselves because they are inexperienced in life. And, therefore, the big decisions must come from the elders.

While this may contain some truth, we should be realistic in our thinking if we truly care about the future and well-being of our youth. By ignoring or dismissing their desires and ambitions, we risk taking away the one thing that could make or break them in the long term: their autonomy on their own future.

When we ask them for their perspective on this matter, directly and indirectly, we are handing them the reins which we have long used to help care for and guide them until this moment. Some parents or guardians have long practised this, and they should be commended.

Besides acknowledging their own ambitions, we as elder figures need to also consider another aspect that has long been forgotten. Apart from what the youth would want to do, we should also guide them towards thinking about who they are as a person.

This is because their prospective fields of study and subsequently, their career(s), would end up forging their long-term livelihood. To simplify, their higher education and degree will be a part of them until the day they retire.

If we impose our desires on them, we are actually imposing our beliefs on them on what they should do for the next few decades of their lives.

Instead, we should allow them to go through a phase of self-exploration in order to find the kind of people they are and who they want to be.

This is important as the alignment between a practitioner and his or her practice will lead to better work-life happiness. If the career tallies with their ambition, they shall be happier in performing their jobs. This will eventually lead to better performances and better output for the nation’s human capital development.

On a personal note, I left my previous job, which paid me more than the new one I had applied for. I remember, upon confirming my application, the recruiting officer asked me three times how sure I wanted to leave the job for the new one. Three times, I answered yes without hesitation.

My reasoning is simple: the previous job, albeit with a high salary, required me to be idle and sit in front of a screen most of my days. That is not who I am. I am a more expressive, creative, and explorative person who loves to try new things with freedom and curiosity. Thus, I accepted my current job as a lecturer. Needless to say, I became happier.

Not everyone has the privilege to jump around and make changes in life. This is understandable if some of our school-leavers do end up not choosing to further their education as their next step.

Nevertheless, we should give them the space to explore themselves and guide them into believing that whatever it is that they do in life, they should be content with it.

To our youth out there, it is never about what jobs you can do with your certification. It should always be about who you are. From there, you will know which path(s) you can take next. And from there too, you can be heading to success.

AMIRUL NAZMI AZRYMI is attached to the International Islamic University Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.