By LUKE ANAMI
Employers are calling on universities and colleges to align their courses to the needs of the job market.
The Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) says the demand for skilled workers has been increasing, but the high number of graduates that training institutions churn out every year don’t have requisite skills.
“Kenyan colleges and universities are no longer offering skills training to students. Majority of colleges have been converted into universities and a number of courses dropped,” Ms Gilda Odera, board member, FKE said during the launching of employers’ manifesto.
Tertiary education in Kenya is estimated at 6 per cent due to overemphasis on white-collar education and poor attitude towards vocational training.
“The country has not achieved a globally competitive human resource base needed to meet the requirements of a developing economy and the ever changing skills requirement,” Odera said. She called for the revival of polytechnics with emphasis on skills training to close the current skills gap in the job market.
“There was a system that allowed people to train as artisans, technicians and engineers. That system is no longer in place as it has been abandoned. The polytechnics that used to train them have been swallowed up by universities,” Erastus Mwongera, FKE national chairman said.
“There is need to fund the colleges and universities to resume training in the three categories.”
On the hand, the government has been urged to come up with structures that will see all civil servants trained at the Kenya School of Government, formerly Kenya Institute of Public Administration.
“When it comes to access to train
