Quality of graduates dire

NAIROBI: A World Bank report on the quality of graduates leaving our universities for the job market paints a dismal picture of our higher institutions of learning. Another audit report by the Kenya Education Network shows that only 15 engineers graduate from the 12 public universities acquired their doctorate degrees in the 2013 and 2014.

In its report of September 2015 titled ‘Kenya’s Education Achievement and Challenges’ The World bank observed that the country’s education system had failed to produce graduates with the knowledge and skills crucial for Vision 2030. This report is given credence by reports that students who took their engineering degrees at the Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology will have to take remedial classes to help them improve their competency.

Unfortunately, when unqualified people in the field of sciences like medicine and engineering are allowed to ply their trade, the danger to society is magnified. While quack doctors have occasioned unnecessary deaths, engineers without relevant skills have allowed the construction of buildings that crumble as soon as they are completed burying innocent Kenyans. Such cases have been rampant, with the latest being in Nairobi’s Zimmerman estate where a four-storeyed building collapsed on Wednesday this week. The government must ensure colleges churn out competent graduates.