Editor,

RE: "Are our university graduates universally competitive?” (The New Times, July 27).

This is a serious burden that is weighing our economy down and making our country helplessly impoverished in skills and service; nonetheless, it has not been taken with a grain of salt.

Agreeably, education that leads to the degree certificate must be based on, not only academics, but also research and community involvement. Without these two pillars, how can we expect to reap as much from education?

Let’s call a spade a spade and not a big spoon. Just last year, a survey carried out by the Inter-University Council for East Africa, or IUCEA, which regulates higher education in the East African Community confirmed the long-held concerns among employers that most graduates are not fully prepared for the job market.

Employers aside, the graduates themselves are insecure — no wonder the shallow quest to seek rather than create.

The study, which polled employers across the region, concluded that graduates lacked employability skills, technical mastery and basic work-related capabilities.

The study showed that Uganda has the worst record, with at least 63% of graduates found to lack job market skills.

It is followed closely by Tanzania, where 61% of graduates were ill prepared. In Burundi and Rwanda, 55% and 52% of graduates respectively were perceived to be competent. In Kenya, 51% of graduates were believed to be unfit for jobs.

The report blamed the falling quality of education on universities admitting more students than they can handle and lacking adequate teachers. Indeed, education experts and university administrators have argued that additional enrolment can only be handled if the governments pump more funds into higher education, so institutions can afford to expand infrastructure and hire extra tutors, of course assuming that those who are there are well motivated.

This state of affairs is denying the five economies the skills needed to drive growth. The damning state of the skills base means an imbalance is looming, where perceptions of the quality of graduates in each of the countries will determine the flow of labour.

Truth be told, most graduates lack self-confidence, cannot express themselves properly and lack the technical mastery required in the jobs they are seeking because all they know are the memorized notes.

However, enrolment aside, community involvement and research, fundamental pillars in the mission of higher education, are undeniably the missing link. How do we expect the graduates to create anything if all they have done and witnessed are the professor’s handouts?

Year after year, lecturers deny the students opportunity to research by insisting on giving notes (a classier name is the handout) which by the way, they have been using for 20 years. Aren’t their new developments that need to be updated? I mean books are published daily.

Research and community involvement must be promoted by all means. Universities must also constantly ensure quality by approving syllabi and module guidelines to ensure that right things are done in the classrooms. Enrollment should also be proportional to the man power.

Christine Osae