International Journal of Social Science Tomorrow

Vol. 2 No. 3

Graduate Unemployment and Unemployability in Kenya: Transforming University Education to Cope with Market Demands and the Lessons for Africa
Awuor Ponge, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), Kenya; Commonwealth Scholarship Fellow, Institute of Education (IoE), University of London

Abstract
The graduate labour market has changed considerably. There are more and more university graduates experiencing difficulties in entering the graduate labour market. The greatest challenge for graduates in this era will be to develop themselves to become employable. Any university seeking relevance today must produce graduates who would employ people rather than searching for employment. This study has looked at best practices from around Africa and also the national manifestations of graduate unemployment. Using as example three innovative practices in Kenyan universities, the study concludes that there are a lot of opportunities available in Kenya through which Universities could forge partnerships for purposes of addressing the graduate unemployability situation. It stresses on the need to develop graduate development and employment programs; introduction of the skills training and employment placement programmes; Micro and Small Enterprise development and commitment of the government through budgetary provisions for youth entrepreneurship and particularly targeting graduates. Keywords: Graduates, Unemployment, Unemployability, Transformation, Development, Innovation.

1. Introduction
The unemployment rate and the disappearance of certain jobs in the Kenyan work place is a major concern that needs urgent attention, specifically, educators are asked to respond to the question What does it feel like to ISSN: 2277-6168 March|2013 www.ijsst.com Page | 1

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produce graduates whose employment is not guaranteed? (Amimo, 2012:52). The graduate labour market has changed considerably. There are more and more university graduates experiencing difficulties in entering the graduate labour market. In Kenya, an environment of radical uncertainty and complexity in the job market has arisen, that both brings about changes and calls for changes. The greatest challenge for graduates in this new era will be to develop themselves to become employable. The new world of work requires new skills such as negotiating, networking, problem solving, and skills to manage process rather than functional skills (Harvey, Moon, & Geall, 2009). Employability is the propensity of graduates to secure a job and progress in their career, it is not just about getting a job, it is about developing attributes, techniques, or experience for life (Harvey, 2005: 13). A university ought therefore, to offer a wide range of studies so that students, even if they dont pursue every subject available to them, gain by living among their peers (Oloo, n.d.) Records in the Ministry of Youth and Sports show that there are only 125,000 young people (18-35years) registered with formal employment nationwide, among Kenyas population of nearly 40 million: and the majority are graduates (Amimo, 2012:52). This study is critical because unemployment rate is a key macroeconomic indicator, with low unemployment rate taken to indicate a healthy economy; unemployment represents a waste of resources since unused labour could be used to increase output growth; unemployment is associated with economic hardships such as loss of income and reduced chances of future employment for individuals and families; and finally, unemployment is linked to various social problems such as criminal activity, drug addiction, psychological disorders and loss of self-confidence (KIPPRA, 2009: 2). Universities are supposed to impart high level skills to a reasonable proportion of the workforce, developing intellectual capability of individuals and responsible professionals needed virtually in all spheres of human endeavours. They are expected to function to contribute to national development through high level relevant manpower training. Any university seeking relevance today in our country must produce graduates who would employ people rather than searching for employment. Career choice requires the construction of a new identity that is dependent on a persons social interactions and the environment where such interaction takes place (Kaufman & Feldman, 2004). Some of the main challenges facing universities are lack of funding for research, obsolete facilities and technology, lack of concentration of the lecturers and lack of the necessary life skills outside the academic discourse. Others are problems of access versus equity issues which are characterized by gender, regional, ethnic, and social disparities and inequalities, which should be addressed in expanding higher education, especially in the face of devolved governance. There is also the challenge of attracting, rewarding and retaining staff, and the likely effects on the production of quality graduates. Universities have been seen as key instrument for national development, giving rise to the notion of the developmental university. The collapse of many national economies in Africa and the accompanying destabilisation of social structures threw all institutions, including those of higher education, into a prolonged crisis. The principal contribution of a university to society turns on the quality of the knowledge it generates and imparts; the habits of critical thought and problem-solving it institutionalises and inculcates in its graduates (Sawyerr, 2004:5). The main challenge is how to increase access to higher education to cater for the increasing high number of school leavers and others who desire tertiary education (university), while maintaining quality and ensuring equity and affordability (Kinyanjui, 2007). Adebisi, Adebisi and Arogundade (n.d) have diagnosed in detail what they call academic corruption and how this impacts on un-employability of graduates. It centres on students, lecturers, government officials and the institutions in Nigeria. This is not unique to that country and there are lesson herein for universities in Africa. Amimo (2012: 53) attributes the biggest challenge to graduate employability in Kenya to todays pedagogical practices at our universities which she observes are short of these much needed skills. They rather focus on associative reasoning (reasoning that is resonated) with its lack of originality and creativity, which is a serious handicap to skill development. Oloo (n.d) has indicated that University education in Kenya, working within a globalised world is therefore, called upon to examine these challenges in order to come up with ways which will engineer training of graduates for a broader economic, political, recreational and cultural development. The implication for embedding employability into real teaching and learning in higher education is not simple. The requirements of employers sometimes seem to be at odds with those of academia. Closer analysis of what employers are looking for reveals congruity between the abilities developed in higher education and those desired by employers (Harvey, 2005: 23). This therefore, leads us to the big question in this study, whether the Universities are really working towards having the graduates employed or is the market graduating the employment demands to a level the universities cant cope with, leading to the rising cases of graduate un -employability in Africa?

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2. Justification of the Study

University education being perceived as the panacea for a good job is recently rising in demand leading to mushrooming of university extensions in most of the Kenyan towns. This scenario of higher education expansion has compromised quality of graduates, and is a serious concern to employers (Amimo, 2012: 55). This position is corroborated by Mwigiri (2011) who observes that students who are products of Kenya's formal education are not able to develop and use original, inventive, innovative and entrepreneurial competencies that incorporate cross-pollination and fertilization of ideas. The National Youth Policy recognizes that the youth are a key resource that can be tapped for the benefit of the whole country. Thus, the policy endeavours to address issues affecting young people by including broad-based strategies that would provide the youth meaningful opportunities to realize their potential (MOYAS, 2006:1). Since the Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1985 on Unemployment, there has not been a policy that deals with unemployment directly. However, there have been policy initiatives to tackle developmental challenges and unemployment. For example, the eighth and ninth National Development Plans (1997 to 2001 and 2002 to 2008) recognize the role of human resources and labour market policies to Kenyas economic development (KIPPRA, 2009:33). The problem of unemployment has continued to be a big challenge. The third National Development Plan of 1974 78, while acknowledging the efforts made to address unemployment among the youth, warned that the problem would in future loom large (MOYAS, 2006: 2). The Sessional Paper No. 7 of 2005 on Employment Policy and Strategy for Kenya was developed to jumpstart the implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS). However, this was also hinged on the premise that economic growth would lead to employment creation (KIPPRA, 2009:33). The government has developed the National Youth Policy in which several measures to tackle youth unemployment are highlighted, which include job creation for the youth in sports, youth-led government Ministries and youth-led departments (ibid., p.38). The National Youth Policy also recognizes that unemployment brings along with it social ills such as crime and alcohol and drug abuse. Both the Government and non-governmental agencies must address this problem. The policy proposes that the unemployed youth should be provided with access to services and support programmes and opportunities for further training (MOYAS, 2006: 14). The Vision 2030 First Medium Term Plan (MTP) recognizes that faster job creation is required to address the high rate of unemployment and to take care of the increasing number of youths leaving learning institutions, yet unable to find gainful employment. It proposed to increase employment by creating an additional 3.5 million jobs within the next five years (Kenya, 2008: ix). The literature is replete with studies on diverse issues surrounding youth employment and employability. These include the unemployment situation analysis and addressing high unemployment challenges in general (KIPPRA, 2009); the burden of unemployment on the youth (MOYAS, 2006); tailoring higher education in Kenya to the demands of the Post-industrial workplace (Amimo, 2012); need to adopt informal education practices in the management of formal education systems (Mwirigi, 2011); youth unemployment as a continuing crisis with millions of college graduates flooding the unemployment lines (Nesoba, 2010); the wage policies and their impacts on the labour market and employability (Omolo & Omiti, 2004; Owino, 1996; Manda, Kosimbei, & Wanjala, 2007). Kinyanjui (2007) has effectively addressed the issue of transforming higher education in Kenya and the challenges and opportunities that come with the transformation. Lastly, Oloo (n.d) has given a classical example of what a modern university should offer in response to the forces of globalisation and graduate marketability, by drawing on the example from Strathmore University. The most shocking of all is that even as Kenya strives on her path to achieving Vision 2030, no mention is made of the role of university education and the future of university graduates as the Medium Term Plan (Kenya, 2008) and the subsequent Annual Progress Reports (Kenya, 2010; 2011; 2012) are all concerned with education at the lower levels starting from the ECDE and on to the transition and completion rates at secondary education. Without recognizing the role of University education and factoring it in development plans means that a huge chunk of the Kenyan workforce is left out of country programmes. Based on the foregoing review of the literature, it is evident that no study has specifically endeavoured to address the issue of graduate unemployment and employability in relation to the transformations that are currently taking place at the Universities in response to external pressures and the need to make their graduates globally competitive even as they remain relevant to the domestic job market. This study therefore, is a pioneering study in Kenya and to set the agenda for subsequent studies in this critical area of development discourse. ISSN: 2277-6168 March|2013 www.ijsst.com Page | 3

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3. Scope and Limitations of the Study

The scope of this study mainly centred on the Kenyan example and the transformations that are currently taking place in Kenyan universities to cope with the problem of employability of their graduates. However, comparative studies have been drawn from other African universities that have best practices in terms of entrepreneurial innovations and an attempt to balance access versus quality, not sacrificing equity in access. It is worth noting that access to credible unemployment data is hard to come by, because there has not been comprehensive labour force survey targeting specifically graduates, and even the information that is available on unemployment in general is patchy as it concentrates on what has been achieved with regard to employment without taking into consideration what should actually have been done with unemployment. As such, the study will be limiting as it cannot purport to give a clear picture of the general graduate unemployment status without a national survey specifically targeting those who have since graduated and are either in the job market or unemployed.

4. Nature and Study Methodology

The study was mainly a comparative analysis of the different country situations with regard to unemployment of graduates and also the relationship between the programmes on offer at the Universities and their marketability. It sought to find out how innovation has transformed the university education system in Kenya in response to the job market, and more especially, the changes that they have undergone. It sought to diagnose whether the universities are devising any innovative ways of making their graduates compete effectively in the job market. The main approach for the study was desk review of literature available on graduates and employment in Kenya in particular and in Africa in general.

5. Conceptualisation of the Study

The unemployed consist of all persons of working age who are not working, are available for work, and are searching for work at prevailing wage rate (KIPPRA, 2009:5). According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) as cited in Akintoye (2008:98), the unemployed is a member of the economically active population, who are without work but available for and seeking for work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work. Open involuntary unemployment arises when a person who is able and willing to work, is unable to secure a job. Disguised unemployment arises when the work given to a workforce is insufficient to keep it fully employed, that is, work is divided among workers with each worker less than fully employed (KIPPRA, 2009:5). This study is primarily concerned with two types of unemployment namely frictional and structural unemployment. Frictional unemployment arises because workers and employers take time to find each other (to match); whereas structural unemployment arises from the imbalance between the type of skills individuals are offering and the demand for skills by employers.

6. Kenya Employment Situation Report

High unemployment remains one of the greatest challenges to Africas developmen t and hence a major concern to policy makers and other stakeholders in Africa (KIPPRA, 2009:1). The economic growth rate has not been sufficient to create enough employment opportunities to absorb the increasing labour force of about 500,000 annually. Only about 25% of youth are absorbed, leaving 75% to bear the burden of unemployment. Furthermore, some of those absorbed in the labour market have jobs that do not match their qualifications and personal development goals (MOYAS, 2006: 3). With an average growth projection of 8.2 per cent, the total job generation for 2008 2012 was expected to reach 3.7 million in 2012 from about 1.8 million in 2004, translating to an average of 740, 000 new jobs in each year as is captured on the table of employment projections, 2008 2012 (Kenya, 2008: 14) [Table 1] In 2005/2006, the open unemployment rate among the youth ages 15 24 as estimated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, was 24% compared to an overall open unemployment rate of 12.7%. Open unemployment rate in urban areas at 19.9% is more than double that in rural areas; and the rate in Rift Valley Province at 23.9% was the highest among Provinces (KIPPRA, 2009:v). The Report goes ahead to indicate that The most frequent explanations of the causes of unemployment in Kenya include: rapid population growth, poor dissemination of labour market information, skills mismatch, structural reforms, slow or declining economic growth, and high costs of labour (ibid., p.v).

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Enrolment in primary school totaled 7.2 million in 2003 for children aged 6-13 years. Secondary school enrolment, by 2002, totaled 847,287 while university student were estimated to be 63,941 students in the 2002/03 academic year. Enrollment in private accredited and private unaccredited universities totaled 10,310 of which 5,354 (51.9%) are females (MOYAS, 2006: 1). In 2005/06, overall unemployment was 12.7 per cent with urban and rural areas having unemployment rates of 19.9 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively (KNBS, 2007). 57 percent of women and 86 percent of men age 1549 are categorised as currently employed. The proportion of women currently employed increases with age up to 44 years and then declines slightly for those in the 45-49 age group (KNBS & ICF Macro, 2010: 38). Data from the annual Economic Surveys show that formal sector employment growth has been sluggish. It rose by 1.2 per cent between 1998 and 2001. The estimated increase for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 are 2.2 per cent, 2.6 per cent, 3.6 per cent, 2.5 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively. Public sector employment declined by 7.4 per cent from 1998 to 2002 due to public sector reforms but recorded marginal growth of 0.3 per cent between 2002 and 2004. On the other hand, informal sector employment increased by 10 per cent between 1998 and 2002 and 6.4 per cent between 2002 and 2005 (KIPPRA, 2009:2). [Figure 1] With regard to employment, the target for total job creation in 2008 was 425, 000. Actual employment creation was 467, 300 which was above the target by 42, 300. Out of the 467, 300 new jobs created in 2008, the bulk, 433, 500 were in the informal sector, 33, 700 were in wage employees in modern establishments and 100 were self employed (Kenya, 2010:11). [Table 2] It is interesting to note, however, that the 2008 figure was down from the 2007 baseline figure of 485, 500. The slowdown in employment creation continued in 2009 with 445, 900 new jobs being created compared to the MTP target of 787, 000 new jobs (Kenya, 2011: 17). It is clear that the economy has not been able to create the desired number of jobs. While the target for employment creation was missed by 38.4 per cent in 2008, this gap increased by about five percentage points to 43.3 per cent in 2009 (ibid., p. 46). The country has been unable to meet the MTP 2008 2009 targets in the past three years. In the financial year 2010/2011, 503, 500 new jobs were generated both in the formal and informal sectors as compared to a total of 502, 900 jobs created in 2009. The formal sector generated 62, 600 new jobs in 2010 compared to 56, 300 jobs created in 2009 representing a 12.4 per cent of total jobs generated (Kenya, 2012: 23). It is also interesting to note that the informal sector, which represented 80.6 per cent of the total employment, generated an additional 440, 900 jobs. In sum, the total employment growth for the year 2010/2011 was 3.0 per cent in the formal sector as compared to 5.3 per cent in the informal sector (Ibid., p. 23) [Table 3] [Table 4] [Table 5] [Table 6]

7. Global Perspectives on Graduate Unemployment

Graduate unemployment is not a problem unique to Kenya. It is a global phenomenon, however, in Kenya, it is a tragedy. In the present day knowledge based economies that have emerged following globalization and information technology revolution, universities are expected to play a pivotal role by generating, harnessing and transmitting knowledge for sustainable development and improved standard of living (Bassey & Atan, 2012: 69). Gbosi (2006) defined unemployment as a situation in which people who are willing to work at the prevailing wage rate are unable to find jobs. Unemployment of recent graduates is hovering at 50% in both China and the US. The lack of available employment for the best and the brightest is a symptom of what is wrong at a macro level with each of the respective economies. While the overall symptoms are the same, the disease, and its treatment, is acutely different (Mahoney, 2012). Obadan and Odusola (2003:1) observe that graduate unemploym ent apart from representing a colossal waste of a countrys manpower resources, generates welfare loss in terms of lower output, thereby leading to lower income and well-being. There are major shifts at the work place and it is important to study the job market to find out the kind of jobs that will be available for our graduates in the post industrial era (Amimo, 2012: 54). Kenyas gross domestic product by sector is agriculture (22%), services (62%) and industry (16%). This suggests that most jobs are available in the service sector (World Bank, 2010 as quoted in Amimo, 2012:54).

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The opportunity costs and losses arising from unemployed and underemployed young people have, and will continue to exert, tremendous impacts on society if these problems are not addressed in time. The inability to find decent work enhances a sense of vulnerability and inadequacy among youths, which can lead to other social ills and conflicts UNESCO (2006:1). The growing incidence of graduate unemployment in the face of acute skill shortages presents a paradox which further complicates the analysis of labour market distortions (Bassey & Atan, 2012:68). This phenomenon of unemployment has made Obadan and Odusola (2003) to make the following observation in relation to productivity: The need to avert the negative effects of unemployment has made the tackling of unemployment problems to feature very prominently in the development objectives of many developing countries. Incidentally, most of these countries' economies are also characterized by low productivity. Thus, it seems obvious to many policy makers that there must be a straight forward connection between productivity and employment/unemployment (Obadan and Odusola, 2003:1). In all modern economies, universities are places where specialized human resources are developed. Therefore, they play a crucial role in generating human capacities for leadership, management and the technical expertise (Bassey & Atan, 2012: 69). Among the reasons adduced for the quality deterioration in university education are incessant strikes, lack of employee motivation, weak accountability for educational performance, shortage of staff, corruption and admissions based on quotas rather than merit (Saint, Hartnett & Strassner, 2003). According to Bassey and Atan (2012: 7475), the large numbers of unemployed graduates and the low productivity of those who find work reflect poor social return on the investment. The tragedy is that while the causes of low quality of university education and its consequences are widely acknowledged, there are no mechanisms in place to correct them.

8. Manifestations of Graduate Unemployment

Mismatch in labour market demand and supply There is a general lack of appropriate skills and knowledge among new recruits in the workplace. To compound this, there is a perception that the technical and ICT skills learned in schools are outdated and do not match the state-of-the-art technologies in use at the workplace. This has been a problem mainly with students of Computer Sciences and also Engineering courses. This has forced students to do other courses like Microsoft Certification on top of their University Degrees in Computer Studies to make them be relevant to the workplace or rather be accepted by employers. Most employers perceive the engineering students to have been taught mainly theoretical work and dont have the hands -on in the practical aspects which is critical. Another challenge is that most are only taught fabrication and repairs of machinery from the developed countries, which by the way, become obsolete by the time they reach Africa. Inadequate labour market information One reason for the mismatch between demand and supply lies in the lack of appropriate and updated labour market information. As mentioned earlier, there also appears to be a discrepancy between labour market demand and supply. The Universities do not have a comprehensive database of what the market demands so as to gauge students admissions to the market demands. What has been happening is a case of the golden rush, for example when there is demand for scientists, the emphasis is centred on this to the detriment of the humanities. When everyone goes for the sciences, there comes a tragedy when the country needs teachers for humanities as happened in Kenya in the recent past when there were few (if any) students graduating to teach subjects like English, History, Religious Studies and even Social Education and Ethics. Currently, these are selling like hot cake in Kenya. Discrepancies between Graduate expectations versus market reality A major element pointed out by many employers is the unrealistic expectations and demands of young employees, especially given their lack of experience and skills. Lack of work experience - In general, the divide between school and the world of work is imposed upon students by the educational systems, in conformation to policies and pedagogical approaches in each country. Similarly, social and cultural norms play a role in whether young people are exposed to work environments. Lack of life skills training Another common complaint with the graduates that make them not appealing to the employers is that of the lack of skills and experiences of the young people. Curricular contents in educational institutions stress core competencies in reading, writing and arithmetic and core subjects. Life skills such as social skills, interpersonal relationships, motivation, critical thinking, communication, creativity, language skills and so on are usually not taught within the formal setting of the school system, yet these are really valued and are at the centre stage during interviews.

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9. Innovation in Kenyan Universities

9.1 Universities and Research in Agribusiness Innovation Fair
The organisation of this fair is one of the activities in the ongoing Universities, Business and Research in Agricultural Innovation (UniBRAIN) 1 programme. UNIBRAIN responds to the recommendations by the African Union to strengthen linkages between Universities, Research and Business. It provide a platform for the Universities and research institutions to showcase their innovations; enable the Small and Micro-Enterprises (SMEs) to access information and products on innovative financing options and products; foster linkages between the private sector and the institutions of higher learning; and enable agribusiness and agro-industry players to make business contacts; linkages and explore the opportunities of up scaling the identified innovations. In contrast to earlier universities concentration of producing graduates with theoretical background in agriculture, without good in-the-field practical experience, UniBRAIN seeks to promote agricultural innovation and produce graduates with entrepreneurial and business skills and research-based knowledge that is relevant to the development of African agriculture and agribusiness.

9.2 Innovation as Economic Driver for Universities

In the very recent past, five Kenyan scientists have been feted for their exemplary innovations in Science and Technology. One was awarded for inventing a new mobile application whose objective is to provide agricultural information to farmers about agricultural activities in the country and beyond. Another one was awarded for coming up with a dye for the textile industry. The product is now being used by a clothing company in Kenya (Orengo, 2012). A technologies firm has been feted for its revolutionary car tracking and security system, which uses a mobile phone to track and deliver actual geographical position of any vehicle when stolen, and last but certainly not least, another scientist was awarded for developing a 3G mobile remote camera, which is able to detect the presence of an intruder in ones house or property, then sends live video to the homeowner (ibid). Most worthy to note is that all these are developing in the academic environment of the universities.

9.3 Innovation at Inoorero University

Among the objectives of setting up the Inoorero University Innovation Centre were to stimulate the interests of staff and students to develop innovative ideas to solve business and social problems in the community; Promote innovation as an integral part of academic activity to generate jobs and enterprises; Develop and package the innovations into intellectual products; Engage industry to market and develop the innovations into business solutions (Inoorero University, 2012). Some of the key milestones for the innovation centre include: - Mobile Application Development of applications that run on mobiles phones, smart phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other small devices hence solve business problems; development of applications for buying through MPESA mobile telephone money services and E-Commerce services. - Software development - Digitization and document management software development. - Digital Content development Developing E-Books; Open education resources development and utilization; and lastly - Business Process Outsourcing They seek to develop BPO personnel capacity for the national government and for the 47 Counties with the coming into effect of devolved governance.

9.4 Innovation at Egerton University

Egerton University has come up with the Agricultural Innovations Capacity of Graduates programme (Egerton University, 2012) which is a regional project aimed at building capacity of African University Graduates to foster change through Agricultural Innovations. It is coordinated by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The implementing partners are regional and international Universities and research institutes in the field of agriculture. It stresses on the need for the universities to be innovative of perish as opposed to the old adage of publish or perish. The project dubbed Graduate Opportunities for Innovation and Transformation (GO4IT) aims at contributing to and facilitating agricultural and rural innovation processes.

10. What are the Opportunities for Kenya?

There are so many opportunities available in Kenya through which Universities could forge partnerships for purposes of addressing the graduate unemployability situation. Here we identify three of such avenues, namely: the effective implementation of the National Youth Policy and working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MOYAS); the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and lastly the Kenya Youth Business Trust.

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10.1 The National Youth Policy

The National Youth Policy provides for among other things, that the private sector, CSOs and the Government should encourage and promote initiatives from youth groups by providing them with necessary skills (technical and financial assistance) to build their capacity; Government, CSOs, Private Sector should support and initiate income generating activities by providing youth friendly micro-finance credit facilities; the Government, CSOs and other developmental partners should allocate funds specifically for young entrepreneurs; and ultimately creating awareness on labour laws and workers rights through civic education, especially through campaigns organized by youth organisations (MOYAS, 2006:7)

10.2 Youth Enterprise Development Fund

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund is a recent initiative by the Kenya government to reduce youth unemployment. It targets youth in ages 18-35. The objectives of the fund include among others, provision of funds to micro-finance institutions for onward lending to youth enterprises (KIPPRA, 2009:40). The Universities could establish partnership with this fund to ensure that innovative university graduates are financed to commercialise their innovations.

10.3 Kenya Youth Business Trust (KYBT)

KYBT is the local chapter for Youth Business International (YBI) launched in March, 2003. It aims at reducing youth unemployment by supporting new business start-ups and providing disadvantaged youth with personal development opportunities. Kenya Youth Business Trust (KYBT) was founded in 2004 to help tackle the issue of youth unemployment. It became an accredited member of YBI in 2005. KYBT was launched in Nairobi but has since expanded to Mombasa (Kenya Youth Business Trust, 2012). KYBT provides seed capital, business mentorship and business information. According to its own information sources, the KYBT has facilitated more than 38 young entrepreneurs to establish their own businesses (KIPPRA, 2009: 42). This is another avenue the universities could seek partnerships for ensuring that their graduates not only get the hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, but that they can market their innovations to earn a living.

11. Policy Options and Lessons for Africa

In order to help address the issue of graduate unemployment, the need for comprehensive data on the characteristics of the graduate population and its unemployed component becomes paramount. Among the key issues to be considered to address mismatch between supply and demand as a tragedy to graduate unemployment problem are: conducting needs assessment, developing more relevant curricula, implementing appropriate pedagogical approaches to link educational institutions and industries, identifying and defining qualifications based on real needs, assessing and ensuring the quality of competencies, certifying qualified institutions and trainees (UNESCO, 2006:3). Dabalen, Oni & Adekoka (2000) have identified three major sources of employment for University graduates. These are the public sector, the private sector and self employment. There is need to address the problem of businesses that would rather poach employees from other companies than employ and train talented people who lack skills and work experience but could add value in the long term. The biggest victim of this are the Commercial banks in Kenya which even employ University graduates such as Engineers and even Lawyers as tellers. For job information needs, there is need to incorporate analyses of the trends in labour market needs as part of the economic projections and plans, and communicate this clearly to the education and training sectors. In giving an example from the South African context and linking the government and the academia with the business community, the Business Leadership Centre observed that as businesspeople, we must remember that youth unemployment is not just a problem for government; it is a problem for everyone. It is also not a problem that one group can solve alone. The solutions are not simple, but we have a common interest, and together we can make a start.2

11.1 Quality Assurance and Strengthening Partnerships

There is need to strengthen existing partnerships as well as scouting for new partnerships as this enhances achievement of our goals. Providing educational opportunities, including study options, bursaries and educational loans, and career guidance is equally important. Mechanisms should be put in place to involve employers and businesses in needs assessment and development of curricula; developing a national qualification framework, and ensure understanding and compliance of framework; provide certification of qualifications and training and also develop and implement quality assurance systems.

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11.2 Research and Database Management

Research and a credible database, especially of the unemployment trends and capacity needs assessment of the public and private sector is critical. There is need for coordination and networking for purposes of identifying capacity building and training needs for both the graduates and the potential employers. The Government should facilitate the compilation and sharing of best practices in the region, encourage governments and employers to plan events to develop career awareness, develop strategies to coordinate cooperation between governmental agencies, industries and educational institutions and also establish web-based career guidance portals.

11.3 Graduate Networking Clubs

Graduates should organize themselves in establishing organized structures like Graduate Clubs which can facilitate projects like networking and capacity building programs focusing in life skills.

11.4 Development of Graduate Development and Employment programs

This would be a very technical organ and requires a high level of expertise. It will have the potential to contribute in linking graduates to work opportunities or internships. This would address the problem of frictional unemployment, which refers to insufficient information in the labour market conditions, making job seekers not able to obtain satisfaction from the job and continue to enter the labor market job search phenomenon. Facilitate exposure of students to the workplace through mentoring, counselling, promotion and on-the-job demonstrations.

11.5 Introduction of the Skills Training and Employment Placement (STEP) Programme
The Government should re-examine the policy of enlarging enrollment, adjusting the training level and gradually build specialized focused on building a reasonable knowledge structure and ability to increase employment guidance, smooth employment channels and making it possible for graduates to be able to own businesses. Lack of life skills can be improved through developing more extra-curricular activities and encourage students participation while enrolled as students or trainees.

11.6 Micro and Small Enterprise Development

Increase the number of small firms provides opportunities for jobs and skills for most entrants in the labour market which in turn creates demand for skills among other scale-sensitive activities as fruitful targets for cooperation and collaboration among firms in an industry, particularly if the industry is populated by small and medium-sized firms. Examples in this case include the textile industry, curios, and small scale manufacturing.

11.7 Formalisation of the Jua Kali Sector

The formalization of informal sector and also the community-based apprenticeship training schemes in all Counties with the support of the Government to take care of the graduates trained in Engineering and other such professional courses.

11.8 Policy on Technical, Industrial and Vocational Education and Training (TIVET)
Promote technological proficiency by training for skills to produce competitive products for the domestic and international markets. Also develop training systems and mechanisms to facilitative linkages of the informal sector and standards of skill acquisition with those of the formal technical and vocational system. There is need to improve access and relevance of education and training provided to the youth with more focus on technical and vocational skills as well as development of soft skills. This requires the effective implementation of the Technical Industrial Vocational Education and Training (TIVET) policy.

11.9 Government Commitment through Budgetary Provisions

There is need for the Government to promote policies that increase demand and opportunities for more graduates to be employed and to provide programmes and incentives to ensure that those that will be employed are properly trained and equipped to work.

Awuor Ponge, Institute of Education (IoE), University of London

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References
Adebisi, P. A., Adebisi O. S., & Arogundade K. K (n.d) Academic Corruption and the Challenge of Unemployable Graduates in Nigeria: Implications for Entrepreneurship Development and Economic Gr owth. The Journal of Commerce, 4(1): 112. Akintoye, I.R. (2008). Reducing unemployment through the informal sector: A case study of Nigeria. European Journal of Economic Financial and Administrative Science, 11: 97-106. Amimo, Catherine A. (2012). Tailoring Higher Education in Kenya to the Demands of the Postindustrial Work Place. Baraton Interdisplinary Research Journal, 2(1): 5258. Bassey, G. E. & Atan, J. A. (2012). Labour Market Distortions and University Graduate Unemployment in Nigeria: Issues and Remedies. Current Research Journal of Economic Theory, 4(3): 6776. Dabalen, A., B. Oni and O. Adekoka, (2000). Labour market prospects for university graduates in Nigeria. Higher Education Management, 14: 136. Egerton University. (2012). Innovation at Egerton University: Agricultural Innovations Capacity of Graduates Available onli ne at: http://ruforuminnovationsproject.blogspot.com/ <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Gbosi, A.N. (2006). Modern Labour Economics and Policy Analysis. Park Publishers: Abakiliki (pp: 56 92). Harvey, L. (2005). Embedding and Integrating Employability. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2005 (128), 13-28. Harvey, L., Moon, S., & Geall, V. (2009). Graduates' Work: Organizational Change and Students' Attributes. Retrieved from: http://www0.bcu.ac.uk/crq/publications/gw/gwcon.html <Accessed on 26 December 2012>. Inoorero University. (2012) Innovation at Inoorero Universit y Research and Innovation Center Available online at: http://www.iu.ac.ke/ric/ <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Kaufman, P. and Feldman K A. (2004). Forming identities in college: A sociological approach. Research in Higher Education, 45 (5). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2007). Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (2005/2006). Nairobi: Government Printer. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. (2010). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09. Calverton, Maryland: KNBS and ICF Macro. Kenya, Republic of. (2008). First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030 A Globally Competitive and Prosperous Kenya. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning (Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate). Kenya, Republic of. (2010). First Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Implementation of the First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning (Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate). Kenya, Republic of. (2011). Second Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Implementation of the First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning (Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate). Kenya, Republic of. (2012). Third Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Implementation of the First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning (Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate). Kenya Youth Business Trust. (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.youthbusiness.org/where-we-work/kenya/ <Accessed on 24 February 2013> Kinyanjui, Kabiru. (2007). The Transformation of Higher Education in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities. Commission of Higher Education, Paper Presented at the Mijadala on Social Policy, Governance and Development in Kenya sponsored by Development Policy Management Forum on 9 July, 2007 at Nairobi Safari Club. KIPPRA. (2009). Unemployment in Kenya: A Situational Analysis and what needs to be done. A project of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis in conjunction with the National Economic and Social Council, United Nations Development Program and the Royal Danish Embassy. Nairobi: KIPPRA/NESC/RDE. Retrieved from: http://mirror.undp.org/kenya/NESCUnemploymentinKenya.pdf <Accessed on 20 February 2013> Mahoney, Shawn. (2012). Graduate unemployment in China and USA. Available online from http://chinadailymail.com/author/shmahomey/ <Accessed on 21 January 2013> Manda, D.K. Kosimbei, G. K. and Wanjala, B. (2007). Impact of Minimum Wages on Formal Employment in Kenya. KIPPRA Discussion Paper No. 67. Nairobi: Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MOYAS). (2006). Kenyas National Youth Policy. Retrieved from: http://www.gyouth.org/main/images/youth.pdf <Accessed on 21 January 2013> Mwirigi, Lucas. (2011). Why we need to adopt informal education practices in the management of formal education systems . Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-We-Need-To-Adopt-Informal-Education-Practices-In-The-Management-Of-FormalEducation-Systems&id=6118428 <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Nesoba, Dorah. (2010). Youth unemployment crisis continues, millions of college grads flood unemployment lines. Retrieved from: http://dev.globalpressinstitute.org/global-news/africa/kenya/youth-unemployment-crisis-continues-millions-college-grads-floodunemployme <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Obadan, M. I. & Odusola, A. F. (2003). Productivity and Unemployment in Nigeria. National Centre for Economic Management & Administration (NCEMA), Ibadan. Retrieved from: http://www.cenbank.org/OUT/PUBLICATIONS/OCCASIONALPAPERS/RD/2000/ABE-00-10.PDF <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Oloo, Florence. (n.d.). University Education: The Case for Strathmore. Available online from: http://www.univforum.org/pdf/225_strathmore.pdf <Accessed on 8 February 2013> Omolo, J. O. and Omiti, J.M. (2004). Is Minimum Wage Policy Effective in Kenya? Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, Discussion Paper, No. 054/2004. Orengo, Peter. (2012) Kenyans feted for scientific innovations Available online at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000055520&pageNo=1 <Accessed on 12 January 2013> Owino, P. (1996). Adjustment Policy, Employment, and Labour Market Institutions in Kenya. Nairobi: International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR). Saint, W., Hartnett, T. A. & Strassner, E. (2003). Higher education in Nigeria: A status report. Higher Education Policy, 16: 259281. Sawyerr, Akilagpa. (2004). Challenges Facing African Universities: Selected Issues. African Studies Review, 47(1): 159. UNESCO. (2006). Report of meeting on A multi -stakeholder approach to address graduate (un)employment. 16 17 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001529/152959e.pdf <Accessed on 26 December 2012> Universities and Research in Agribusiness Innovation Fair. 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Tables and Figures

Table 1: Employment Projections, 2008 2012 2003 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2008 2012 Total Avg. Projections Total Avg 5.4 4.7 8.4 8.7 9.1 10.0 8.2 Employment growth (%) 2, 344 3, 698 469 425 759 787 823 904 740 Total Employment (000s) Source: Kenya, Government of the Republic of. (2008). First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030 A Globally Competitive and Prosperous Kenya. (pg.14) Figure 1: Jobs Created, Targets and Variance 2007 2009
Jobs Created, Targets and Variance 2007 - 2010
Variance 319.5 503.5 823 341.1 445.9 787 295.7 463.3 759 485.5 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

2010 Years 2009 2008 2007

Actual Target Variance Actual Target Variance Actual Target Baseline

Jobs in Thousands

Source: Kenya, Republic of. (2012). Third Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Implementation of the First Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030. (pg. 56) Table 2 : Targeted and Actual Employment levels 2008/2009 2011/2012 FY 2008/2009 FY 2009/2010 FY 2010/2011 FY 2011/ 2012

Target Actual Target Actual Target Employment Growth 8.4 -2.2 8.7 5.9 9.1 Total Employment (000's) 759 474.7 787 502.9 823 Source: Kenya, Republic of. (2012). Third Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Medium Term Plan (2008 2012) of Kenya Vision 2030. (pg. 23)

Actual 0.12 10 503.5 904 Implementation of the First

Table 3 : Employment status: Women 1 Age Percent distribution of women age 15-49 by employment status, according to age, Kenya 2008 2009. Employed in the 12 months preceding Not employed the survey Number in the 12 months Total of women Background Not preceding the survey Currently Characteristic currently employed3 (Age) employed 15-19 19.3 1.8 78.9 100.0 1,761 20-24 50.5 3.7 45.7 100.0 1,715 25-29 66.6 3.1 30.3 100.0 1,454 30-34 71.4 2.1 26.5 100.0 1,209 35-39 73.7 1.5 24.8 100.0 877 40-44 78.7 1.8 19.5 100.0 768 45-49 74.2 1.3 24.5 100.0 661 Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. (2010). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09 (pg. 37).
3

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Table 4 : Employment status: Men 1 - Age Percent distribution of men age 15-49 by employment status, according to age, Kenya 2008 2009. Employed in the 12 months preceding Not employed the survey Number in the 12 months Total of men Background Not preceding the survey Currently Characteristic currently employed (Age) employed 15-19 59.9 3.9 36.3 100.0 776 20-24 86.9 2.8 10.3 100.0 630 25-29 97.4 0.7 1.9 100.0 483 30-34 95.4 2.5 2.1 100.0 461 35-39 98.6 0.5 0.9 100.0 344 40-44 98.6 1.0 0.4 100.0 306 45-49 97.9 0.9 1.2 100.0 257 Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. (2010). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09 (p. 38). Table 5 : Employment status: Women 2 - Education Percent distribution of women age 15-49 by employment status, according to education, Kenya 2008 2009. Employed in the 12 months preceding Not employed the survey Number in the 12 months Total of women Background Not preceding the survey Currently Characteristic currently employed (Education) employed No education 50.6 3.0 46.4 100.0 752 Primary incomplete 52.7 2.6 44.7 100.0 2,526 Primary complete 60.1 2.9 37.0 100.0 2,272 Secondary+ 58.8 1.7 39.5 100.0 2,894 Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. (2010). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09 (pg. 37). Table 6 : Employment status: Men 2 - Education Percent distribution of men age 15-49 by employment status, according to education, Kenya 2008 2009. Employed in the 12 months preceding Not employed the survey Number in the 12 months Total of men Background Not preceding the survey Currently Characteristic currently employed (Education) employed No education 93.7 3.2 3.1 100.0 112 Primary incomplete 81.7 3.2 15.1 100.0 883 Primary complete 93.9 0.7 5.4 100.0 804 Secondary+ 84.6 2.2 13.2 100.0 1,459 Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. (2010). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09. (p. 38).

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