This archive report was first published on 3 January 2020.
Kenya's Education System: A Recipe for Unemployment ¶
Kenya's education system, with its 8:4:4 structure, has been criticized for producing graduates who are ill-equipped to create employment opportunities.
According to Ashford Gikunda, a Kenyan writer, the system's focus on academic achievement has led to a culture of unemployment, where graduates are forced to take up menial jobs or remain unemployed.
As Gikunda notes, the system only produces graduates who are skilled in white-collar jobs, but there are not enough of these jobs to go around, resulting in a large number of graduates being left without employment opportunities.
Furthermore, the system fails to teach financial education and entrepreneurship skills, leaving graduates without the knowledge and skills needed to create their own employment opportunities.
As a result, many Kenyan graduates are forced to take up jobs that do not align with their academic credentials, or remain unemployed, wasting away as the country grapples with an all-time high rate of unemployment.
It is time for Kenya to change its education system and focus on teaching financial education and entrepreneurship skills, rather than just academic achievement.
As Robert Kiyosaki's book, 'Why 'A' Students Work for 'C' Students and 'B' Students Work for the Government,' aptly captures, the education system needs to be reformed to produce graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
By teaching financial education and entrepreneurship skills, Kenya can produce graduates who are not only employable but also able to create their own employment opportunities, reducing the country's high unemployment rate.
As Gikunda notes, 'The 8:4:4 system only produces graduates who can only work in offices doing white color jobs. Sadly, there aren’t enough white color jobs for all of our graduates being churned out by our institutions of learning.'
It is time for Kenya to adopt a new approach to education, one that focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities, rather than just being employable.
As Kiyosaki notes, 'There is a tremendous difference between the skill sets of an employer and the skill sets of an entrepreneur.' The 8:4:4 system is very good at producing graduates who are skilled in white-collar jobs, but it fails to produce graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
It is time for Kenya to change its education system and focus on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
As Gikunda notes, 'Universities must teach students financial education as a common unit the way they do with communication skills. They must boldly tell their students that it is easier to create employment than to get employed.'
By teaching financial education and entrepreneurship skills, Kenya can produce graduates who are not only employable but also able to create their own employment opportunities, reducing the country's high unemployment rate.
As Kiyosaki notes, 'Everybody is a genius, but the 8:4:4 system judges all learners using the same yardstick regardless of individual learner’s giftedness.'
It is time for Kenya to adopt a new approach to education, one that focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities, rather than just being employable.
As Gikunda notes, 'The Indians have an inborn entrepreneurial spirit. This combined with the fact that they expose their kids to family businesses at very tender ages, inculcate an entrepreneur culture in them.'
Kenya can learn from the Indian approach to education, which focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
As Kiyosaki notes, 'The 8:4:4 system is very good at the former. All over the country there are very many graduates who finished top in their class but the world has ‘humbled’ them.'
It is time for Kenya to change its education system and focus on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
As Gikunda notes, 'Being successful in school does not necessarily guarantee one success in life. That is the tragedy of life.'
Kenya needs to adopt a new approach to education, one that focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities, rather than just being employable.
As Kiyosaki notes, 'The lack of financial education is the primary reason why most people remain employees. Without financial education, most employees are terrified of losing their job, not having paycheque, or simply failing.'
It is time for Kenya to teach financial education and entrepreneurship skills, rather than just academic achievement.
As Gikunda notes, 'The tragedy of our economy is that the brightest go on to business schools, graduating with MBAs, and begin to climb the corporate ladder as employees and not employers.'
Kenya needs to adopt a new approach to education, one that focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities, rather than just being employable.
As Kiyosaki notes, 'America’s top 50 most success men and women never completed school. Six of them including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Grover Cleveland, Zachary Taylor and Andrew Johnson headed up becoming US president during their time.'
Kenya can learn from the American approach to education, which focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities.
As Gikunda notes, 'Time has come when top CEOs must be compelled to start own companies. It should be made law that as long as one is a top CEO in Kenya, he/she is expected to found a company that creates employment as was done for him/her. That should be law.'
Kenya needs to adopt a new approach to education, one that focuses on producing graduates who are equipped to create their own employment opportunities, rather than just being employable.
