The education policy in the Kenya Vision 2030 emphasizes on providing globally competitive quality education, training and research to her citizens for national development and enhanced individual wellbeing. There is a mismatch between the skills possessed by the job seekers and those required by industry, which leads to under-utilization of the existing human resources capacity and poor state of infrastructure and equipment for research and higher education and training. The country's training institutions are also either inadequate or lack the essential facilities and technology to prepare students for the challenging market demands. The stakeholders in the education sector called for the introduction of a curriculum that would provide flexible education pathways for identifying and nurturing the talents and interests of learners early enough to prepare them for the world of work, career progression and sustainable development. It is interesting to note that there are so many programmes being initiated and funded in the country by foreign Governments, but very few are in the education sector. Kenya has however, had various actors who have come forward to help address the education challenges in attempts to build a knowledge society. This paper is about some of the partners that have been instrumental in this front. It addresses the main challenges affecting the youth in the education sector in attempt to build a knowledge society; and it appreciates the role of the international partners in moving in to address the issues critical to the development of the knowledge society.

Employability of graduates in the East African Region has remained a major challenge and one that the higher education sector has not been able to adequately address. As the enrolment in higher education continues to grow, unemployment remains the biggest challenge facing young graduates. A recent study shows that over 50% of Kenyan graduates are not job-ready at graduation. Other countries in the East African region have higher rates. This study therefore sought to answer the questions why the university graduates are not well prepared for work and what the higher education institutions should do to develop a holistic approach to learning that will build the competences required in the job market. This study is the result of a twelve-month project, which aimed to gain a clear understanding of how Kenya Methodist University is developing the competences required by the job market in its undergraduate students, determine the perception of the students in regards to the skills acquired and developed through their study and get feedback from the industry on the competences the students have developed. The study used a range of activities to gather data on students’ work readiness as well as faculty capacities. Activities included seminars with the faculty, self-evaluation sessions with current students and an evaluation by the industry. Twenty five (25) faculty members were engaged in the seminars to explore the methods that have been applied in class and the outcomes from the courses taught. Thirty five students (35) were engaged in the self-evaluation program during which they were to determine what skills have been acquired through their study. Ten (10) industry players were engaged in the final workshop to evaluate the abilities of the students together with thirteen (13) internal stakeholders. The study revealed that 35% of the faculty members give students only knowledge and therefore it is upon the students to decide how they apply the knowledge. 69% of the students are not able to articulate what skills have been acquired through normal class work and are not able to relate how their knowledge is applicable in the different activities they engage in outside class. The study concludes that, while the lecturers may have the knowledge in their fields of expertise, they lack the art, and to some extent the willingness, to transmit and develop the knowledge and the required competences for work in the students. The curricula do not adequately outline the expected learning outcomes in terms of competences and therefore the lecturer does not design assessment activities that measure the needed competences. Keywords: Graduate Employability, Faculty Development, Skills, Competencies

Kenya has made remarkable progress putting in place an ICT policy framework and implementation strategy, complete with measurable outcomes and time frames. The process has had the benefit of sound advice from officials and stakeholders and, perhaps more importantly, strong leadership from the office of the permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education. However, universal implementation is challenging given the lack of resources, national ICT infrastructure, and even electrical supply- particularly in the rural areas. As technology is bound to rule our present and future, it is good to obtain know-how of the technological reforms at the earliest. Children learn faster and can adapt to changes relatively easily. If they are trained during their school years, they have a high chance of becoming experts in technology. Computers can give lovelier explanations to various subjects. The internet is an ocean of information which can be harnessed for the rendition of information in school....

The unemployment rate and the disappearance of certain jobs in the Kenyan work place is a major concern that needs urgent attention. This paper does not necessarily focus on labor market analysis or how to improve graduate employability, but rather attempts to present an anthropological description of the contemporary work place, a reality that most educators may not be familiar with. It reveals the new patterns in organizational structures with a focus on customization and globalization; and stress on the demand for design rather than mass production that characterized the traditional work place. Implications for individual workers and challenges to higher education in terms of academic screening, the curriculum specificity, the basis of education and schooling are discussed. The paper stresses the importance of understanding the changing requirements for today’s laborers as this has important implications on higher education in terms of skills, training and capacity. Specifically,...