Over 50pc of East African graduates 'half-baked'

Scholars from the East African Community have advised universities to give priority to entrepreneurship training and research. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

Percentage of graduates lacking job market skills

  • Uganda 63pc
  • Tanzania 61pc
  • Burundi 55 pc
  • Rwanda 52pc
  • Kenya 51pc

At least half of graduates produced by East African universities lack employability skills, technical mastery and basic work-related capabilities, a new survey shows.

According to the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), a body created to regulate higher education in the region, the situation simply confirms the concerns among employers that most graduates are not fully prepared for the job market.

The situation, the report which polled employers says, denies all the five countries making up the region the skills needed to drive growth.

The study shows that Uganda has the worst record, with at least 63 per cent of graduates found to lack job market skills followed closely by Tanzania where 61 per cent of graduates are ill-prepared.

In Burundi and Rwanda, 55 per cent and 52 per cent of graduates respectively are perceived to be incompetent while in Kenya, 51 per cent of graduates are believed to be unfit for jobs.

The implication is that despite the improvement in university enrolment across the region and the fact that thousands of young people are graduating each year; their qualifications are unable to secure many of them jobs.

CLICK HERE to read the full report.