- There is an increasing demand in construction, manufacturing, healthcare and IT for skilled technicians, artisans and middle-level professionals.
- By addressing skill gaps, robust industrialisation and enhanced agricultural production can occur without prohibitive increases in labour costs.
Image: HANDOUT
A topic that sometimes comes up when I am chatting with my old college friends is the emotions we all experienced when we first learnt that we had won a place at a local university.
It almost did not matter what we would be studying. What mattered was that we had “made it”. That we had reached the end of the long journey which began when we started nursery school. And we felt that we had at last reached the summit of the academic journey and would in time be “university graduates”. And this was a badge of honour that we would carry with us for the rest of our lives.
For those among us who were the first in our families to get the opportunity for university studies, this was a fulfilment not only for us who had worked so hard in our studies, but also for the whole family.
It was not unusual for a mother to burst into tears when her daughter gave her the good news that she would be enrolling for a degree at a university.
Kenya has changed a lot since I was a college student.
Nowadays it is not at all unusual to read about young Kenyans who qualified to join a local public university but decided not to take up the opportunity.
But it is even more complicated than that.
Every academic year in Kenya there are approximately 1,300,000 learners in lower secondary; about 780,000 in upper secondary; and 50,000 graduating from universities.
This transition rate makes one wonder, what happens to the other learners who do not make it to university.
Available statistics indicate that there are 2,401 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions catering to 367,925 students. This would translate to an estimated 122,641 graduating annually.
In a country such as ours, there is an increasing demand in construction, manufacturing, healthcare and information technology for skilled technicians, artisans and middle-level professionals.
By addressing skill gaps, robust industrialisation and enhanced agricultural production can occur without prohibitive increases in labour costs.
This is partly due to the TVET curriculum, which is technically focused, aligned to industry needs, shorter in duration and less expensive than the university courses.
The linkages and partnerships with industry players also tend to be more intense. With these considerations, therefore, it follows that not only are the employment prospects of a TVET graduate brighter, but so is the avenue of self-employment, since their training is set to address the end of the supply chain, the customer, client or consumer.
What then makes a university degree useful?
For any sector to grow sustainably, first there is always a need to have managers who have comprehensive technical knowledge to create optimal delivery of services. Understanding the universal principles and components of production and how to maximise outputs, whether services or in manufacturing.
Secondly, for sustainability in a competitive environment, there is a need for research and development. This entails conceptual thinking, proofing of concepts, prototyping and assessing scalability.
The last aspect is specialisation. This involves intricate and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter for greater proficiency and increased productivity of service. These three things are what a university graduate needs to engage in, where there is the correct ratio between university and TVET graduates.
The unemployment and under-employment we now witness among graduates have diminished the allure of university education.
Yet there is hope on the horizon due to renewed government efforts in establishing TVETs. One such initiative in the Information Technology sector is the establishment of 113 Jitume Centres. These are digital hubs aimed at providing skills in IT to a proficiency level to enable online employment.
To meet the establishment of the aggregation centres in counties, a corresponding 2,000 tutors are to be recruited to increase the labour force.
With these plans being rolled out successfully, the university graduate shall once again find their role as the TVET graduate thrives in theirs, making possible sustainable development.