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It has also being observed that with growing unemployment in the country and employment companies finding it difficult to get the right candidates, as a result of poor quality of graduates from our tertiary institutions, education experts and stakeholders have advocated for a strategic policies on the part of those saddled with the responsibility of managing the educational system to tackle the issue.
In today’s ever competitive labour market, good academic qualifications are not enough for employability stakeholders have observed
They maintain that higher education institutions need to run programmes that are relevant to their country’s needs and to provide the necessary skills to their students to facilitate their eventual employment.
Olufemi Bamiro in his presentation titled graduate employability: Nigerian case and lessons from Africa and beyond in Abuja disclosed that good academic qualifications are not enough for employability.
According to him, “Graduates need to also have other attributes and competencies often referred to as ‘soft’ skills. Indeed, many employers give greater importance to soft skills than qualifications. These skills include communication skills, analytical and problem-solving skills, team spirit, creativity and adaptability”
Bamiro who was one of the speakers at an education stakeholder’s interactive session organised by the British Council noted that employability is the combination of factors which enable individuals to progress towards or enter employment, to stay in employment and to progress during their career.
“Graduates can no longer expect to be employed in just one sector throughout their professional life. They will need to be imparted with skills that enable them to adapt to different situations as they move from one job to another”, he said.
He maintains graduate employment is a complex concept, involving not only each individual’s characteristics, skills, attitudes and motivation, but also, other external factors which lie beyond the scope of education and training policy, such as labour market regulations, demography, the structure of the economy and the overall economic situation.
To him, “Strengthening employability is a policy concern for all public authorities, including those responsible for education and training and for employment”. He enjoins stakeholders in African higher education to ensure that in the selection of leadership and management of universities, meritocracy should be the prime driving factor.
“African governments should invest in higher education institutions by increasing substantially their financial commitment to them,” he said.
KELECHI EWUZIE
