Uganda to host 4th East African Education forum

Aug 25, 2015

Uganda is set to host the fourth Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) forum on how to produce an ideal graduate who will fit the job market needs.

By Betty Amamukirori and Reginah Nalunga

Uganda is set to host the fourth Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) forum on how to produce an ideal graduate who will fit the job market needs.


While
addressing the press at Grand Imperial Hotel, Kampala, Prof. Mayunga Nkunya, the Executive Secretary IUCEA, said that the job market has jobs, but the graduates are half baked and lack the required skills.

“This has resulted in a blame game whereby the private and public sectors accuse us of producing substandard graduates. To end this unproductive game, we decided to combine the two sectors to combat the problem,” he said.

He said that the desire to have a permanent solution for the blame game resulted in the sign of a partnership between IUCEA and the East African Business Council (EABC) in 2011.

It was formed with an aim of providing an intersection point between knowledge and human resources produced by higher education institutions in the region, and the dissemination of the same to the private sector for the eventual diffusion into the productive sectors.

The partnership gave birth to Academic-Public-Private Partnership Forum and Exhibitions being held in the East African states on a rotational basis.

Nkunya said that they were using this Forums to dialogue with the various stakeholders how to churn out a graduate that is fit for the job market.

He said that including the private and the public sector in the Education system will enable the academia know exactly what kind of products they need and how they should be trained.

He noted that this will help academic institutions pass out graduates who fit the market needs.

Nkunya also said that during the forum, they will also focus the discussions on how to improve the quality of the teaching staff since it is them that play a greater role in determining the quality of graduates.

The forum is slated to take place on October 22 and 23 this year, at Imperial Golf View Hotel, Entebbe, and has been jointly organized by IUCEA, East African Business Council (EABC) and East African Development Bank (EADB).

This is going to be the fourth IUCEA forum and exhibition to be held since the signing of the partnership and the first of its kind to be held in Uganda.

The first one was held in Tanzania, the second one in Kenya and the third one in Rwanda.

The academic exhibitions will be done by the various higher institutions of East African, showcasing institutional profiles, services and products to various stakeholders, academia, the private and public sector.

Nkunya is, however, crying out to the different institutions and stakeholders to bail them out financially in order for a successful organization of the Forum.

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