African Union envoy Raila Odinga has said conflict between education and job in the market remains a big problem in Kenya.
Raila said the type of skills being instilled in students do not prepare them for the jobs that are in demand.
He spoke on Friday at UN offices in Gigiri, Nairobi, during the commemoration of International Youth Day.
Raila said there are more educated people in the country who are looking for work but are turned back by employers because they cannot find required skills in them.
He said there is a need to empower youths with proper skills, which will enable them to become proper force for wealth creation in the society.
"We must therefore adequately transform our education to become a powerful tool for achieving vision 2030 agenda for sustainable development of the national Big 4 agenda," Raila said.
He also said the ongoing reforms in the education sector is expected to lead to emergence of innovative and trans-formative minds, which will be able to provide solutions to the challenges that the society is facing.
ODM leader added that education should focus on what happens to students after leaving schools.
He has challenged education providers to work more closely with employers in order to make sure that they are offering courses that prepares young people for work place.
" We need to create an environment where employers and education providers work closely to design curriculum that fits business need," he said.
Raila said the economies of countries such as China and Germany have tremendously thrived because education providers have worked closely with employers.
Youth and Gender CS Margaret Kobia said there is a need to have accountability mechanism in implementing the discussions made during the youth forums each year.
She said the mechanism will enable each country to make progress on the youth agenda.
CS for health Sicily Kariuki said issues on health is affecting both the young and the old and there is need to rethink on lifestyles.
The global theme of IYD 2019 is transforming education.
