•He said implementation of ICT policies be domesticated at the local level in schools and community centres.
•The director called for the establishment of the EAC higher education area through the harmonisation and standardisation of a national higher education system.
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The government should develop and adopt a framework for engaging industry experts and those in academia to address the high rate of unemployment, an expert has said.
Africa Higher Education Research Institute executive director Robert Owino said it is evident there is a mismatch of skills and competencies among graduates.
He cited challenges of school-to-work transition for graduates, saying they contribute to unemployment, underemployment and misemployment.
“With this backdrop, the higher education actors need to develop and adopt a framework for engaging industry experts and the academia in addressing this challenge,” Owino said.
He said implementation of ICT policies be domesticated at the local level in schools and community centres.
“Higher learning institutions need to be supported in coming up with ICT policies that mirror and align to the national policy while addressing their needs,” he said.
The director called for the establishment of the East Africa Community higher education area through the harmonisation and standardisation of a national higher education system.
He said his institute was planning its fourth annual conference in Arusha, Tanzania. It will be the first conference to be convened outside Kenya.
The conference will bring together regional stakeholders in academia, government and industry under the theme "Building partnerships to support innovation in higher education institutions through knowledge diplomacy."
Owino said they were engaging stakeholders to scale up the recently implemented pilot school connectivity project to more learning institutions across the region.
He said the overall goal of this project is to equip schools with internet connectivity and establish local ICT centres of competencies.
Owino said this will help in improving digital literacy skills within our communities.
He said Aheri played a key role in facilitating the MoU between Kempten University, Germany and St Paul's University.
“The collaboration creates an avenue for exchange programs collaboration research and discovery as well as opportunities for learning and teaching through joint partnerships with other institutions,” Owino said.
He said a major challenge the institute faces is securing funding for research which has led Aheri to build internal capacity in resource mobilization.
“While we appreciate the support we have received, we continue to actively seek for more funding,” Owino said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris