Need for demand-driven varsity education

What you need to know:

  • Kenyan universities need to do the following: Develop and measure the specific skills that will be most in demand, especially interpersonal skills and complex thinking skills.

  • Use work-based modern and culturally inclusive pedagogy to grow learners’ competencies, while also preparing educators to embrace new forms of teaching and learning.

As the workplace in Kenya significantly changes, more highly skilled workers with competencies are in great demand, and Kenya needs a third wave of university education reform aimed at ensuring that graduates entering the workplace have the competencies demanded by the job market.

The first wave of university education reform in Kenya focused on access; assisting more qualified Kenyans enrol in public and private universities, and their multi-campuses. The second wave focused on advancing student success and ensuring the production of quality graduates.

REFORM AGENDA

The third wave of university education reform in Kenya should now focus on creating an education system that is able to adapt to the needs of the learners and employers. A system that is able to respond to the needs of the labour market and the workforce needs of the country. Universities do not operate in a vacuum and should respond to signals from society to ensure that desired job qualifications and the degree programmes offered are in alignment. The reform agenda should move from supply driven to demand driven degree programmes.

Laura Ascione, the Managing Editor, Content Services at eSchool Media, notes that demand-driven education aims to keep pace with the emerging global economy, which is technology-infused and industry-driven. Demand driven education also strives to keep up with the demand for skills that the economy will require of its workers. A conducive and supportive business climate is key to job creation.

The third university education reform should focus on the importance of having a workforce committed to learning for a life time – lifelong learning. The concept of lifelong learning comprises a number of pillars of learning including; learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to earn, and learning how to learn. The importance of lifelong learning is being pursued the world over.

LEARNING POLICIES

For instance, Unesco has championed the development of lifelong learning policies and strategies among all member countries including Kenya.

In the US, the New Report from Jobs for the Future and Pearson observes that a career path won’t have a single-job trajectory, instead, all graduates will require a lifetime of learning.

As pointed out by the report, which I find authentic, Kenyan universities need to do the following: Develop and measure the specific skills that will be most in demand, especially interpersonal skills and complex thinking skills; use work-based modern and culturally inclusive pedagogy to grow learners’ competencies, while also preparing educators to embrace new forms of teaching and learning; respond to the needs of the labour markets to ensure continuous alignment; create flexible and adaptive pathways to allow learners to rapidly convert learning to earning, and support changes that make the entire education landscape function better.

Fred Muyia Nafukho is Professor and Associate Dean College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, USA; [email protected]