Employers blame poor curriculum for unskilled graduates

By Abigael Sum

Kenya: Employers have raised concern over half-baked graduates who fail to meet expectations at the workplace.

This, they said, is as a result of gaps between their training and skills required by employers.

East African Business Council Executive Director Andrew Kaggwa said despite both college and university graduates having admirable academic achievements, they lack the ability to deliver in their areas of expertise

“There is a mismatch in the labour market demand and supply where universities are producing graduates lacking appropriate skills and knowledge needed in the workplace,” said Kaggwa.

He attributed this gap to the current curriculum in Kenyan institutions of higher learning.

Inter-University Council for East Africa Executive Secretary Prof Mayunga Nkunya acknowledged that there was a problem in the education system, noting that reforming the curriculum could solve the problem.

“Universities do not discard obsolete programmes. Instead they add new ones to existing outdated programmes which were modelled for the colonial system. For reforms to take root, it should be a collective effort,” he advised.