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How African universities are failing to prepare graduates for the 21st century workplace
Learning in many African universities still happens in large lecture halls and rewards the ability to remember and repeat information
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Now, the reality of degree raining in some success for graduates is far less certain. Graduate unemployment keeps worsening on the Africa continent.
In 2014, a British Council study estimated Nigeria’s graduate unemployment at 23.1%. Graduate unemployment in Ghana sits at 11.9%. In the East Africa country Kenya, a graduate takes an average of five years to get recruited into a job. Arguments advanced by business leaders have never been the non-existence of jobs but the lack of skilled talents to do the available jobs
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What could likely account for this?
Experts have attributed this unfortunate phenomenon to two main reasons.
The first argument advanced is that financial, human capital and infrastructure constraints have a negative impact on the range and quality of skills students graduate with. The second primary reason is the gap between what is taught at school and the skills needed in the market.
Seth Trudeau, Director of Learning, African Leadership University explains that "employers are now looking for graduates who can think for themselves and integrate into fast-paced work environments. However, another more fundamental explanation has to do with how students are educated, irrespective of what they study or the resource constraints they face. How students learn matters to employers because it shapes how they think and what they do at work".
Nowadays, a lot of employers look beyond graduates with the most impressive degree certificates. Global auditing and accounting firms like Ernst & Young have removed degree classifications from their entry requirements simply because they do not believe academic success is always a sign of professional success.
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21st century graduate
Graduates who can think for themselves, integrate into fast-paced work environments, learn new ways of working and develop creative solutions to real problems are the ones employers are seeking. These abilities, experts say are acquired depending on how students are taught rather than what they learned.
The African continent is at a special moment in the history of education. Information used to be difficult to come by but now it is everywhere.
Traditional university model defines “learning” as access to information and knowledge, education resources and teaching expertise. The story is different now. Today, technology has redefined learning, making it easier for anyone to get information, knowledge and learning resources.
The advantage retained by the traditional university is in producing and organising knowledge. But academic researchers form a very small percentage of the knowledge workers needed in the information age.
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Time to revisit old models
Universities need to rethink their approach to learning if they are to produce people with the critical thinking, leadership, collaboration and problem solving skills needed for modern life.
Learning in many African universities still happens in large lecture halls and rewards the ability to remember and repeat information. Researchers such as Nobel Prize winning physicist Carl Wieman have shown that this is one of the least effective ways of learning.
According to Seth Trudeau, Director of Learning, African Leadership University, effective learning takes three things. First, students must be able to reflect on what they are learning.
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Second, true learning happens when students stop being passive recipients of information and become active experimenters.
Third, learning happens when students apply new concepts or skills. This is the most natural test for a student’s comprehension of what they are studying.
Universities are the planning stage for a society’s aspirations. African universities must begin to produce employable leaders who will meet the challenges that are hindering the continent’s progress. The continent needs to redesign its educational curriculum quickly to produce graduates with the appropriate skills.
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