“The state of Graduate Employability in Kenya” report released in Nairobi last week and published in the local dailies mentions Mount Kenya University (MKU) as one of the institutions with a big number of alumni in employment. MKU has a campus in Kigali with state of the art facilities and has graduated over 10,000 graduates since it was founded in Rwanda 10 years ago. Its graduates are regarded highly by employees in Rwanda. The University of Nairobi is the most preferred source of new staff by Kenyan employers, a new study says. Graduates from the institution have an employability rate of 38% Kenyatta University follows at 30%, Moi University (25), Jommo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology – JKUAT (19), Egerton (18), Maseno (18) and Technical University at 10% The study by CPS international, a marketing and social research firm, surveyed 67 universities and 50 organizations between November and January. The top five private Universities in terms of graduate employability are Mount Kenya University at 18%, United States International University- Africa (six), KCA (six), Strathmore (5.8) and Aga Khan at 4.8%. “For every 10 jobs available, eight are likely to be taken up by public university graduates, especially those from the University of Nairobi, while the other two will likely go to private institutions like Mount Kenya University,” the report says. According to the study some 81% of employed graduates are from local universities while 17 are from institutions abroad. Firms that took part in the survey say they prefer Business and Economics studies, Engineering, ICT, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and Medical Science graduates. The report shows that 47%of the employed graduates took Business and Economics, engineering (11), medical courses (8.9), ICT and natural sciences (6.7), art and design (4.4) and humanities and other two per cent. Universities with the highest employability rate for their graduates are also the most preferred by the learners who are already in employment. The top five universities with the highest number of working students are Nairobi, Kenyatta, Moi, JKUAT and Maseno. Private institutions with a high number of working learners are Mount Kenya University, USIU- Africa, Strathmore, Nazarene and KCA. Most of the employers (84%) interviewed consider work experience as the most important aspect when recruiting staff. Some 73% named skills, hobbies and talents. 67% of employers cited volunteerism while only 21% considered internship to be important. The most valued skills among employers are basic numeracy and literacy, ICT, ability to work in a team, positive attitude, strong communication abilities, decision-making and organization. “Studying overseas is not so much of an issue for new graduates, considering that only 11% of employers think it is an added advantage,” the survey says, adding that 28% of new recruits are local graduates with at least three-month experience. Some 24% of new recruits are local graduates with no experience. Asked if the reputation of universities has a bearing on graduate employability, some 54% said it does, while 26% consider it inconsequential. “This means graduates from universities that are ranked high and with a good reputation have a higher chance of employment than those poorly perceived,” the report says. Closer cooperation While 56% of the employers say they are satisfied with the quality of newly hired graduates, 33% say the recruits do not meet their expectations in terms of skills and general knowledge. Employers dissatisfied with the quality of graduates cite a high on-the-job-training cost and general acceptability of the recruit. Graduates from Universities based in cities often demand more salary than those from rural areas. Employers called for closer co-operation between them and the institutions in curriculum design and study programmes. The study sought to determine the employability of Kenyan graduates, employer views on their quality and the skills they consider most important. The survey generally agrees with a similar study by Madison Insurance in 2017 titled: “The Higher Education Sector Survey”, which Quoted Nairobi, JKUAT, Kenyatta, Moi, Egerton, Maseno and Masinde Muliro as the most preferred public universities by employers. Top favored private universities were Strathmore, Daystar, Mount Kenya University and Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
