Institutions of higher learning in Kenya are at odds with professional organisations tasked with monitoring the course content and teaching quality.
The Engineers Board of Kenya, which is tasked with developing and regulating engineering practice in Kenya, has canceled various engineering programmes at a number of universities since they had never been approved.
The Council of Legal Education, on the other hand, has raised a red flag on the status of legal education in Kenya and ceased teaching the subject at a local university.
The teaching, learning, assessment, and research in our universities and other higher institutions do not ensure graduates’ employability and marketability, as evidenced by recent data. This is a depressing state of affairs, and it is important to reflect where we may be doing wrong.
Our universities have been transformed into tribal organizations. A recent study demonstrated that our universities have been reduced to tribal outfits rather than research centres.
Without professionalism in work, we cannot expect our institutions of higher learning to adhere to the best teaching standards.
As national institutions, universities should strive to set the highest standards by utilizing the most effective teaching techniques, learning process, assessment, and research models. This is the only way for Kenyan colleges to be globally competitive and rank highly. They should focus on combining theoretical and practical knowledge, with a special emphasis on contemporary forms and methods of teaching, practical training, and cooperation with local enterprises and other sectors of the economy.
Despite the outstanding academic achievements of some of our graduates, many fail to be attractive employees due to a lack of practical, innovative, and inventive thinking, according to many employers.
Employers today favor language proficiency and literacy skills, such as communication skills, numeracy, critical thinking, learning, and basic computer literacy, over high academic scores. Unfortunately, our colleges generate graduates with substantial deficiencies in all or the vast majority of these skills since they have not been incorporated into their curriculum.
Universities and tertiary institutions should ensure that communication skills, critical and analytical thinking, quick and diligent problem-solving, teamwork spirit, information management techniques, statistical analysis, and entrepreneurial and leadership skills are included in their curricula or course content.
The majority of graduates use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to socialize. Universities should find ways to instruct graduates on how to develop these networks to advance their skills. Employers no longer select employees based on stunning credentials, but rather on skills.
Lastly, studies have demonstrated that students with high test scores are frequently unable to successfully apply memorized facts and formulas beyond the classroom. It is time for colleges to abandon the model of education that regards the professor as a knowledge dispenser and the student as a passive recipient. Therefore, universities and other tertiary institutions should develop programs that are in line with contemporary circumstances. Thus, our graduates will gain marketability.
