Mismatch of skills produced by universities and the demands of the labor market

Mismatch of skills produced by universities and the demands of the labor market

Mismatch of skills produced by universities and the demands of the labor market is among the national problems the Kenyan government faces. Based on various reports concerning the educational sector, it is evident that most of the skills the universities produce do not match the demands imposed by some of the companies and organizations in the labor market. However, it is vital to identify some of the aspects that cause a mismatch. Although various causes are attributed to the mismatch of skills produced by the universities in Kenya and the labor market, it is possible to generate tentative solutions to the mismatches.

One of the causes of the mismatch is a lack of quality vocational training. Skills that are required in production companies such as mining and energy sectors in Kenya are usually gained through non-formal technical and professional education and training institutions. However, most students qualify to join the universities pursue courses that are more oriented to white color jobs rather than technical courses. Therefore, the government focus more on the universities and puts less concern on the vocational training institutions.

The government can help in solving the above problem by developing more specialized vocational centers. The specialized vocational centers will equip the learners with relevant skills and thus enabling them to meet the demands in the labor market. The government should also support the students in the vocational centers by subsidizing their fees, which will assist them in accomplishing their academic studies.

Most of the universities in Kenya offer some courses which are not aligned to the global standards, thus leading to the mismatch. Most leaners end up acquiring some skills that do not match with what the labor market requires. Most of the graduates end up unemployed because their expertise does not meet the demands of the labor market. It creates a negative impact on graduates seeking jobs in the labor market.

University should offer programs that are aligned to the global standards. The government, through the ministry of education, should ensure the higher learning institutions provide equitable programs that match the available global criteria. The university management should also ensure that the tutors offer the learners with the right knowledge necessary for enhancing better skills.

Most of the higher learning institutions experience inadequate learning facilities, which can be attributed to the mismatch due to various reasons. Inadequate facilities lower the quality of education, thus resulting in graduates with insufficient skills. It creates a negative impact on the labor market since most of the companies require the best skills.

The government and the management in the higher learning institutions should ensure they employ qualified tutors. Having the eligible lecturers/ tutors, it will be easier to produce graduates with the required skills. The government should also provide adequate learning facilities to the institutions necessary for enhancing quality education.

There is an inadequate allocation of time to learning skills offered in Kenyan universities. The curriculum provided in Kenya requires significant investments in terms of time and resources by both the learners, parents, and the Kenyan government as a whole. Many graduates end up not utilizing the skills obtained from their learning institutions and thus end up being employed in other fields in which they were not trained for. Bilbao who stated that “curriculum refers to the total of all learning experiences of individuals not only in school but also in the society.” He suggests that the growth in scholarly output has decreased, and the skills the learners attained have not yet increased. The skills required for job training and other requirements have rapidly increased, and this has been attributed to dissatisfaction, which relates to work attitudes and poor skills related to the field of specialization.

Structural unemployment being a form of employment caused by the mismatch between the skills that are demanded by the workers by their employers and the workers themselves can deliver. This type of unemployment in the labor market mismatches the employee qualification does not match what is required in the job market, which is brought about by either underemployment or over skilling.

Therefore, to ensure that there is no mismatch in curricula dynamics and labor market alignment, the curriculum in place should try to factor in proper subject selection and assessments, internships, career guide, and orientation to learners.  More so, the labor markets are not able to get the required personnel to fit in the jobs since the skills required do not match with their job specialization. On the contrary, many learners just learn for the purpose of passing their examinations and they don’t retain the knowledge acquired in their memory. Due to this employee qualification do not match the labor market requirements.

There are few internship opportunities offered to learners during their learning process. The internships and volunteering opportunities are rarely available for the majority of students, especially in the humanities and social sciences, at a time when most jobs require experience.

While theoretical insights in any field, they have to ensure that there is a comprehensive understanding of principles in any given area, contextualizing these facts within a supervised and controlled environment during industrial attachment is equally essential. It is because it ensures students can adequately apply the concepts in a working environment.

There is a lack of awareness offered to students on the courses they pursue. The number of students and institutions are not reliable. Nationwide-data which is collected and institutional information is parodic the absence of useful data weakens decision making at all levels of the sector; thus, families, for example, are unable to make decisions about suitable or the most competitive courses and their supplies.

Students should be provided with adequate knowledge and skills, which will help them in making decisions whereby before joining the universities, they are aware of what they can do best and choose a course that is a more competitive market. They should work for what employers are looking for and then acquire those skills to enhance their competitiveness.

There is inadequate funding of leaners in the education sector. The government should also involve private areas such as HELB, which should offer a credit facility agreement with selected commercial banks. Through this partnership, the banks will match kshs4 for every shilling invested by HELB, thus expanding the fund four-fold from the current Kshs 2.8 billion to kshs19.2 billion. It will increase the number of higher education student beneficiary significantly

The enrollment in critical science disciplines such as Agriculture, Engineering, Computer science, ICT, and Veterinary science is very low and growing at a languid pace. The majority of students enroll for humanities, social science, and arts; this is a course why Kenyan universities are not producing graduates with knowledge, skills, and competencies crucial for securing vison 2030. It would not be wrong for them enrolling in humanities. Still, the issue is that they just possess the district academic qualification where competition is so high, they need to be all-rounded, able to think out of the box.

The university must be keen on courses that are being offered; they set a limit that is to give several students needed in a particular course so that when the limit is reached, others can register for other courses offered in the universities. They should be urged and given the importance of doing courses in science disciplines for them to participate in a healthy competition when it comes to job searching and to possess a certain level of initiative and leadership to be able to relate well with other people in the workplace.

There are more theoretical learning skills than practical skills in our educational institutions. Universities are more theoretical in most of the courses they are offering. Hence, they do not impact practicality and technicality among students.  It leads to a lack of innovation among graduates who may end up tarmacking even though there is the availability of job opportunities they cannot fit. Thus, it leads to unemployment; for instance, law and engineering courses have been suspended due to the failure of universities to observe minimum requirements in offering them.

You will find the graduates do not have skills that are required in the labor market. They are unable to apply skills they have been taught in the classroom. In terms of development, many universities find that they are geographically located near the resources centers. Whereby you will find that for example school of engineering is situated near an industry; hence students can carry out researches, impact in problem-solving and get first-hand experience with the equipment and machinery in the industry, unlike in Kenya. This issue may deter the country to meet its developmental vision plan in 2030.

Courses offered in universities should be more practical and technical rather than theoretical; this will help students to be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge required to meet the needs in the labor market. The government should fund universities to help them establish resource centers and do more research, which is capital intensive if the government. The government should be able to provide more funds to universities to have quality research. There is a need for the government to put the economy on a high growth path art rate of 10% or above and scale-up wealth generation programs. It will give the government the capacity to commit increased funds to higher education. This growth rate is possible as the Jubilee government is focusing its attention on achieving a 7-10% growth rate in its first two years in government.

There is a high number of enrollment of students in educational centers in the country. Due to the high demand for education in Kenya, there has been a high population of students in the universities whereby a teacher is not able to handle more students, and some may not reach to the teacher in class because the class is overcrowded. Others end upon learning from outside, and this one leads to poor education among the learners; hence the universities end up producing learners with profound knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Lack of enough lecturers in Universities also hinders the quality of education, knowledge, and skills that are being transmitted to students. It is because students are many in one class, and because lecturers teaching the specific course are less in school, they end up being put in one class hence marking lecturer to only give out notes but not educating leaners.

The government should employ more lecturers to help cater to learners learning to avoid overcrowding in class. Through that, learners will find it easier to give out a continuous assessment and also give out skills to learners for effective teaching to take place at a university; there must be a minimum ratio of lecturing staff against the number of enrolled students to be achieved.

The government should aim at establishing more universities even in remote areas to avoid overcrowding on main campuses. However, satellite campuses should also have the same standards and resources that are available on the main campuses to encourage many students to enroll there. Besides, the government should be liars with university management and other stakeholders to ensure that there is no overcrowding in the classroom, and every student’s needs are met.

Some of the institutions in Kenya offer education, which has irrelevant skills and knowledge to the market demands. Some colleges are still teaching unrelated experiences, such as how Vasco da Gama came to Kenya instead of majoring in teaching skills that are of importance to the county’s growth. Some students lack the school fees, thus making them multitask between attending classes and having part-time jobs.  It reduces the quality of the skills earned. Some employers are corrupt and therefore give jobs not to those that qualify but rather to those they are related. It could also mean that some of the tutors employed are incompetent, thus providing inadequate skills to the learners.

Lack of sufficient durable data is yet another challenge. Despite the significant number of students and institutions, now reliable nationwide data is collected, and instructional information is the approach at best.  The absence of useful data weakens or slows down the decision-making process at all levels of the sector of education; the families are unable to make an informed decision and fruitful competitive causes and supplies. It may be due to a lack of data. Also, some places in Kenya do not have access to the network, which is critical for the collection and viewing of data.  It guides the way data is supplied.

These areas have a problem accessing, for example, the university websites which can be used to make them know the courses the institutions are offering and how marketable they are. It also hinders the researches in some institutions which are in places where the network is not available. Data may be from all over the world, which may be published. Such data from well-known scholars and international universities an education may not be accessed by those who need it.

It makes the research only be limited to the local or locality area. Data, for example, statically data of individuals who are taking a specific cause may be unavailable to the interested students. It makes fame causes have a large number of students; thus, less are unemployed, thus increasing the level of unemployment and thus increases the level of dependency.

There are various causes of mismatch of skills produced by universities in Kenya and the labor market. However, multiple solutions to the reasons have been discussed. Among the causes include inadequate learning facilities in the higher learning institutions, universities producing courses that do not align with the global standard. Also, most of the colleges and universities focus more on theoretical courses rather than practical courses. These aspects result in graduates who lack the necessary skills required in the labor market.

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