Advice from Muhammad Yunus to Young People Everywhere: Take Responsibility, and Take Over

To the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the Arab Spring was an expression of frustration by young people in the region of how little change was happening in their societies. He tells Arabic Knowledge@Wharton his advice to young demonstrators in the Arab world, and elsewhere, is to take responsibility for seeing that change happen.

“Young people see solutions are possible, they see a new life is possible. The old generation is still looking at the traditional way of handling everything. And that is the mismatch that will cause more problems. In 20 years from now the world will be completely different, because of that wave of technology, because of that wave of regeneration coming in.

“Just go ahead, take responsibility and make it happen. They will appreciate you for it. They’re not your enemies. Simply they don’t feel you are mature enough to handle that. Show them you are. It’s like any parent and their kids; they’ll treat them that way even if they are grown up. Not only have you grown up, you have much more experience and ideas than they do, in this short time, because your speed is much faster than theirs.”

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To Solve Arab World’s High Youth Unemployment Rates, Teach Blue Collar Skills

The Arab Spring has shown regional leaders the dangers of ignoring unemployment and poverty – since the 1990s the unemployment rate in the Arab world has been among the highest in the world, with an overall rate of 10.3% and a staggering 23.7% for those under age 25, according to the International Labour Organization.

One of the surest, quickest ways to provide relief, according to a new paper done by students with the Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies at Wharton, is through regional governments organizing and reforming vocational education training (VET) which would prepare trainees for mid-level jobs based on manual or practical activities, such as carpentry or hospitality.

There are stigmas that need to be overcome — VET is traditionally seen as last-chance  education for underperforming students — but if implemented effectively, the students argue VET could become a key component for solving the prevailing quandary of human capital development in the Middle East.

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http://bit.ly/wgLaDI

The do’s and don’ts of classroom etiquette

The start of the school year opens the floodgates of university campuses to recently independent freshmen. Overwhelmed with their newfound liberation, some students drive themselves to excess, scrambling to experience previously taboo things. With no real check on one’s actions, professors find that some students may neglect all decorum.

In addition, from unprofessional interactions with a professor to blatant disregard for a course, students are often found dismissing appropriate classroom conduct. Wharton lecturer Barbara Roche even experienced “one student apply fingernail polish” during another’s mid-term presentations.

Even though there are always some difficult students, over-generalization should be prevented. Clearly such people are a minority or else the merit of acceptance into and completion of university would no longer exist.

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http://huff.to/nU81iO