One factor that has led to economic development in various countries is good educational system. Job creation in any country is all about labour intensive industrialization and possessing the necessary skills needed to drive industrial growth. Kenya has a long way to go before it attains industrialization.
In order to achieve this, the country will need to train and develop staffs in engineering, technologist, technicians and artisans. Some of the countries we can borrow lessons are
Lesson Kenya can learn from Developed Countries in regard to Education systems
Germany
Kenya should borrow from German’s system of apprenticeship where training for many vocation courses is given by means of a dual programme of training and teaching. In this system students spend around three to four days in a week in a company related to their area of study.
The companies provide professional training and students acquire real and practical skills. In addition the students are able to experience the exact knowledge they learn in the two or three remaining days of the week.
Kenya dwells so much on theoretical knowledge and as results graduate have less practical skills. The universities and vocational institutions should liaise with the relevant companies and government institutions to help students develop skills as they continue with their learning.
China
Unless Kenyans learn from China we shall continue procuring the important tenders to Chinese firms. China has over two hundred and fifty thousands (250,000) engineers. In contrast, Kenya has 7320 registered engineers. These means that for every 6300 people one will be an engineer. For China to achieve better education for development, National Conference on Education recognized five fundamentals areas for reforms.
The reforms aimed to producing “more skilled peopled”, enabling the localities develop basic education, improve secondary education, develop vocational and technical education and improve the graduate-assignment system of institutions of higher education. Not only do higher institutions provide quality education they also aim at being world class universities. Universities aim at training to develop innovators in high-tech enterprises.
Kenya should therefore start relevant basic education and increase accessibility of secondary school learning for all students from primary schools. Vocational training should be revamped with more modern equipment and trained personnel. The idea of converting vocational training to Universities is not beneficial for it locks out some students. Universities should aim at providing internationally recognized and relevant courses. Research should be done on the development trends so as to develop a curriculum that is relevant.
Sweden
A century ago Sweden was one of the poorest countries in Europe. However, the country had a major turnaround when it decided to inculcate innovation into the education systems right from the early stages of childhood. The country offers free lunch for all school going children and 96 percent of the children have access to a computer and internet. Another thing that is outstanding about Swedish education is that all teachers on permanent contracts are required to have a professional certificate.
Finland
Finland is one of the countries that have a wonderful classroom achievement. They are the repeated winner of top results in a global ranking of national school systems. Equality in education is a bigger contributor to better education. In Kenyan schools resources vary widely, for instance some schools in arid and semi-arid area have fewer resources and as a result learning in this area is limited. On the other hand, Finnish public schools have an encouragingly small variance on their resource allocation. The most interesting about finish education system is that the country has closed private schools. This means that the government is able to provide quality education to all. To ensure education is less interrupted Finnish schools provide universal health care to children on the ground that being healthy is a requirement for learning. Collaboration between teachers is also emphasized and teachers have sessions where they plan and work together
If Kenya would adapt to local need and produce skilled man power to meet the needs, the country would go far in meeting Vision 2030.Many job title in the current market did not exist 20 years ago. Education should consider the skills that are needed by society and eventually develop practical skills that will be used even in the future. Educational reformist should be willing to go an extra of researching and implementing reliable education systems.
With over 100,000 graduates every year the country has to come up with a strategy of developing globally accepted skilled labour
Betty is a qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education (Arts). In addition, she is a registered Certified Public Accountant. She has been teaching and offering part-time accounting services for the last 10 years. She is passionate about education, accounting, writing, and traveling.
