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Kenyan institutions of higher learning need to tailor their courses to the national development agenda if Vision 2030 is to be achieved, experts say.

Vision 2030 is Kenya's development blueprint to transition the country to a middle-income economy by developing the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, among other areas.

Simon Gicharu, founder and chairman of Mount Kenya University, says the production of graduates with inadequate practical skills will negatively affect Kenya's quest to become an industrial powerhouse over the next 18 years.

"It is only by emphasising science, technology and innovation that the country will realise the Vision 2030 dream," Gicharu told Sabahi. "This means universities and other tertiary institutions must design their courses in a way that brings forth professionals that will take up roles in key sectors like engineering, scientific research and other technical areas."

Gicharu said some Kenyan universities are moving away from strong academic programmes focused on science and technology, instead increasingly investing in humanities and liberal-arts programmes.

While the growth of private institutions is a positive sign for the country, he said these universities have not been making necessary big investments, such as in laboratories and technical equipment, to prepare students in math- and science-centric fields.

According to the Commission for Higher Learning, which vets the establishment and quality of tertiary institutions, seven public and 19 private universities operate in Kenya. Unlike private institutions, all public universities have established departments entirely dedicated to science and technology.

Unprepared for job market

"Many graduates come from universities unprepared to hit the job market running because there is a disconnect between the education curriculum and the workforce demanded by the current economic environment," said David Owaro, an economist at the Nairobi-based Institute of Economic Affairs. University curricula should focus on fields where job growth is expected, such as manufacturing, entrepreneurship, agribusiness and the service sector, he said.

These key areas are expected to provide 500,000 jobs annually, according to the Vision 2030 blueprint, which shows there is a need to change tertiary education to focus more on practice than theory to prepare graduates for the job market, according to Owaro.

Professor Egara Kabaji, director of public communication and publishing at the Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology said the huge number of graduates entering the market with inadequate practical skills highlights the inadequacy of the current education system. This, he said, contributes to the high number of unemployed and underemployed graduates in Kenya today.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate stands at 40%, with the highest percentage among the youth between the ages of 18 and 34. According to a report released by the Commission for Higher Education, more than 50,000 students graduate annually from private and public universities.

Kabaji said the government, in consultation with the private sector and academia, should help align education programs with the short- and long-term economic needs of the country.

The government has been too busy encouraging the establishment of new colleges without putting in place relevant policies. "This leads to a situation where institutions focus more on popular and easy-to-facilitate courses […] at the expense of science and technology," he said.

Ndirangu Maina, managing director of the marketing research firm Consumer Insight, said the quality of graduates Kenyan universities produce has been decreasing over the last 15 years.

"This is rather disappointing to me as an employer, and that is why we started a system at Consumer Insight where we never hire graduates straight from the university," he told Sabahi. "We recruit them as trainees based on their attitude and intelligence, take them through a rigorous training and hire those that pass the test after six months."

He said Kenyan universities must implement radical changes if they want to produce seasoned graduates who can steer the country towards Vision 2030.

"Universities need to make it mandatory that graduates go for internships to acquire necessary on-the-job training," he said. In addition, he said curricula should be changed with input from employers to make sure the latest information, technology and practices are used when preparing students.