Grades aren't enough: Schools push practical skills for the workplace

Students at Crawford International School. The institution combines the rigorous Cambridge Curriculum with forward-thinking parallel frameworks to cultivate 21st-century career skills. [Courtesy]

Kenyan schools risk producing graduates who look good on paper but lack practical workplace skills, unless they rethink exam-centred teaching.

Academic results remain a key measure of student performance. Still, they do not always show whether a graduate can solve problems, work with others or adapt to unfamiliar situations at work.

That gap is becoming harder to ignore as artificial intelligence and other technologies change how businesses operate, alter existing jobs and create new demands for workers.

About 15.2 per cent of Kenyan youth aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in 2025, according to World Bank estimates, and the Federation of Kenya Employers says more than 1 million young people enter the labour market every year, many without the skills employers need.

Young people entering the job market therefore face a workplace where technical knowledge alone may not be enough.

Employers need workers who can adapt, communicate, reason and apply what they have learnt to real-world problems.

Crawford International School Executive Principal Amanda Birkenstock said schools must respond by giving learners practical skills alongside academic knowledge.

"Schools that fail to align their day-to-day curricula with these modern workplace realities risk producing graduates who possess impressive academic credentials on paper but lack the practical, employable competencies demanded by recruiters," she said.

The pace of technological change, Birkenstock added, has widened the gap between classroom learning and workplace demands, requiring schools to prepare students for more than examination results.

A Federation of Kenya Employers survey found one in five vacancies at Kenyan firms went unfilled in 2023 for lack of qualified candidates.

Technical adaptability, financial literacy and collaborative problem-solving, she said, should form part of students' preparation for the job market.

In Tatu City, the school combines the Cambridge International Curriculum with programmes in artificial intelligence, robotics and entrepreneurship.

Learners also study cryptocurrency and blockchain, while internships, career guidance, mentorship and industry engagement expose them to workplace expectations.

Students work with emerging technologies including drones, 3D printers and laser cutters as part of the technology programmes.

Technical training, Birkenstock said, should also be matched with reasoning, teamwork, emotional intelligence and leadership to help students operate in changing workplaces.