Excerpt:
There is frustration at many levels. Many, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, believe that Africa’s education system is not investing enough in training its youth in science, technology, math and engineering at the tertiary level. More recently there is a frenzy of investment in technical and vocational education and training.
There is also growing concern about the rapid rise in unemployment among graduates at all levels of the education system; from primary to university. Equally worrying is the structure of Africa’s new growth exuberance and whether it is sufficient to generate a diversity of work opportunities for a burgeoning workforce.
In my view, we have problems at three levels. First, the quality of students coming out the system is poor; they lack the basic numeracy and literacy skills. Second, the graduates lack the necessary technical skills needed by the economy. Third, the economy is not generating jobs for the expanding workforce.
What is not clear is how we make the jump from an education system that produces semi-numerate and nearly illiterate graduates who are staggered by rising unemployment, to determining that somehow Africa’s problem will be solved by expanding TVET and STEM programmes.
Read here: Invest in quality basic education | The Star, Kenya
Dr Alex Awiti is a Director, East African Institute, Aga Khan University. Born in Kisumu, Kenya, and holds a PhD in Ecosystems Ecology from the University of Nairobi. Dr Awiti has been central to the development and initiation of the Institute. From the outset, he has brought an unparalleled commitment to, and knowledge of, the region including key issues that challenge it as well as the tremendous possibilities that exist in marshaling civil society to ensure a sustainable future for the people and the environment that houses them. Dr Awiti possesses an infectious, enthusiastic conviction regarding the pivotal role that policy analysis and development must play to realize this for East Africa.
Prior to joining AKU, Dr Awiti was a postdoctoral fellow with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York.
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