Reorient varsity training to market needs

Graduands during a graduation ceremony at Strathmore University on July 1, 2017. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Kenyan teachers, doctors, engineers, hoteliers, and IT experts have been engaged in some of the emerging economies such as Rwanda, South Sudan and Botswana.
  • Kenya remains a vibrant economy globally recognised as the gateway to Africa.
  • There are also reports that Malaysia copied Kenya’s development blueprint with minimal changes.

Kenya’s education system is one of the best in the region.

The best evidence of this is the high demand for Kenyan professionals, both in the region and the continent.

Kenyan teachers, doctors, engineers, hoteliers, and IT experts have been engaged in some of the emerging economies such as Rwanda, South Sudan and Botswana.

Kenya remains a vibrant economy globally recognised as the gateway to Africa.

However, we are not where we ought to be. It has often been mentioned that at independence, our economy was at the same level as those of South Korea and Malaysia.

MINIMAL CHANGES

There are also reports that Malaysia copied Kenya’s development blueprint with minimal changes.

Those countries are now highly advanced whereas Kenya still struggles with basics such as food security.

However, the country has not been shy to talk about its shortcomings.

In the corridors of government, private sector boardrooms, university lecture halls, the streets and in villages, there is debate around retracing our footpaths, overcoming the challenges and laying ground for eventual economic take-off.

MADE NOTABLE STEPS

Indeed, the government has, over the past decade made notable steps towards the realisation of middle level income economy.

One area in which we can do well is linking the ‘backend’ with the ‘frontend’.

Every year, we release thousands of graduates into the job market. 

A complaint I have heard from some employers, especially in telecommunications, is that engineers trained in our universities are unable to hit the ground running.

The education system seems to be on churning out graduates with little regard to their relevance to the market.

MASS PRODUCTION

It is a system that can be equated to mass production of pagers when the market is going mobile.

It is an interesting coincidence that I am writing this piece less than 40 days to the August 8 elections.

Every politician running should keep this top of mind: A country is only as good as its human resource.

No country can reach middle class income level without a workforce whose skills meet the specific present and future needs of the market.

FOREIGN FIRMS

Or shall we rely on foreign firms to provide skills that could have been developed earlier?

There are a number of ways through which the government and the market can ensure their current and future needs are met.

One, reorient the education system from purely academic rote learning culture to one based on self-discovery.

This means sports, art and craft, music, drama, local languages and enterprise, become part of the syllabus as much as maths, reading, writing and science.

STRUCTURED ENGAGEMENT

The second aspect is instituting a structured engagement between academia, research institutions and employers.

It is unfortunate that some of the programmes offered in universities have little relevance to the market.

I have a soft spot for the Junior Achievement (JA) programme.

Working mostly with high school students, the programme exposes young people to the real world of work and entrepreneurship through job shadow and sports.

CONTINOUS REVIEW

The final aspect is instituting a policy to support continuous review of the education system, engagement between academia and market and skills and technology transfer from foreign firms which secure jobs in Kenya to local talent.

I look forward to a time when every high school or college graduate will be relevant to the economy, not just by being employed, but also by using local resources to produce essential commodities, creating cottage industries and new jobs. The potential is great. Are we ready?

Ms Boomsma is the project coordinator, Sustainable Inclusive Business Kenya (SIB), a partnership of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and MVO Nederland. [email protected]