Graduate Preparedness: A Shared Responsibility

In December 2025, I spent a week working with sixteen Gen-Z students—mostly interns, with a few already in full-time roles. Over lunch one afternoon, I offered what felt like a harmless compliment: You are motivated, responsible, and a joy to work with.

One response stopped me cold. “Ma’am, I’m working not because I have to right now, but because I need experience before entering the job market after graduation.” Another quickly added, “If we don’t take opportunities like this now, finding jobs later becomes difficult.”

Their candour—measured but telling—revealed an uncomfortable truth. For many students, work is no longer an extension of curiosity or passion; it is a defensive strategy. They are accumulating experience not because their education invites exploration, but because they quietly doubt what their degrees alone will deliver.

A month later, that conversation echoed powerfully at a workshop jointly organized by the University of Nepal (UNepal) and the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) in Kathmandu. CEOs, HR managers, and entrepreneurs from more than twenty companies gathered at CNI office, Thapathali to discuss a question Nepal’s higher education sector can no longer avoid: why do graduates leave universities credentialed, yet unprepared?

The event formally commenced with UNepal’s curriculum team presenting an ambitious academic framework, one that weaves together interdisciplinary cores, disciplinary depth, “locations of knowledge,” and cross-disciplinary advanced seminars in pursuit of both academic rigor and real-world relevance.Industry representatives welcomed the initiative but offered a candid critique. Graduates, they observed, frequently struggle with communication, workplace adaptability, and articulating the relevance of their education with assurance. More troubling, however, was the perceived deficit in a learning attitude—something no certificate can replace.

As the discussion deepened, unexpected but striking perspectives emerged. It became clear that the problem was not intelligence or effort. It was readiness: how students are assessed, how they are mentored, how rarely they are exposed to professional expectations while still within the safety of academic spaces. Written examinations still reign, rewarding obedience over initiative and memory over meaning, while sidelining reflection and collaboration. In the process, the qualities that actually shape professionals—curiosity, accountability, ethical judgment, and the ability to learn from failure—are rendered invisible.

The conversation did not dwell solely on what is broken in the education system; it also turned deliberately toward what can be fixed. The recommendations from industry perspective were neither radical nor fanciful: rethink how students are assessed, embed structured internships within degree programs, invest seriously in faculty development, and measure student growth beyond the exam hall. These are not optional enhancements. They are necessary course corrections. At its core, this is not a failure of students. It is a failure of an education system that still locks learning into classrooms and wraps it up at graduation. In today’s labour market, relevance counts as much as academic rigor. Experience does not replace education—but education that cuts experience out leaves graduates exposed.

After the workshop, a series of “what ifs” lingered. What if industries committed to sustained, part-time internship pathways for students? What if universities consistently reinforceeducation’s social purpose, encouraging students to cultivate curiosity beyond grades and credentials?

A degree may open doors, but it is skills, confidence, and self-awareness that allow graduates to walk through them. If Nepal is serious about producing graduates who are not just qualified but capable, universities must move decisively—through curriculum innovation, holistic assessment, and continuous engagement with the world of work. The question is no longer who is to blame, but who is willing to act.

Ultimately, graduate preparedness, as this conversation underscored, is a shared responsibility. Universities and industries shouldn’t limit their meeting to workshops. Rather what if there is a constant communication channel operatingbetween universities, industries, and service sectors—an ecosystem, not an event?

Usha Kiran Regmi serves as a curriculum development consultant at the University of Nepal.