Elifas Bisanda, vice-chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania says more than 50 percent of graduates in Sub-Sahara Africa are jobless, and mostly unskilled and unemployable.
He described the growing number of unemployed graduates in Africa as a time bomb waiting to explode one of these days.
Bisanda, who was the guest lecturer at the 13th convocation lecture of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), spoke on the theme: “Is Western Education Still Relevant for Africa?”
He asserted that the Western education or Colonial education imposed on Nigeria and other African countries has failed and is no longer relevant, because graduates of the system have no practical skills, and cannot find jobs as they are unemployable.
He called for urgent reforms and a review of the education system across the continent to emphasise skills training in the curriculum, rather than theory as has been the practice in the past.
He noted that lack of skilled labour is what has stalled the industrialization process in the African continent, saying
Western countries, as well as China, Korea, and Japan among others start skills training at a very early age.
Bisanda added that African countries must necessarily carry out reforms in their education systems, particularly looking at improving skills training in schools and encouraging internship training to give school leavers some practical experience.
He noted that the worst part of colonial education was that Africans were denied critical thinking and analytical skills, as they were only meant to follow the orders of their colonial masters.
“They learnt to memorize information with little thinking. Similarly, tests and examinations were meant to test the ability to memorize and recall the information taught in the class,” he said.
“This colonial education was inherited by newly independent countries of Africa. The assessment is still the same, and even though we have now introduced many science and technical subjects at all levels of our education system, participation in this area is very low. Up to today, we look highly at persons who got their education in Europe or America.
“The only change is newly independent countries tried hard to educate more of their people with the same colonial education. Now we have many school leavers and university graduates who have no skills, and no industry can hire them.
“Instead, we still need skilled workforce from India and China to come and work in our factories. On the other hand, the growing number of unemployed graduates in Africa is a time bomb waiting to explode one of these days.
“While the west is determined to keep us Africans where we are, we must take affirmative action to get out of this mess they have imposed on us.
“An education system that keeps us poor, while our resources are being taken away should be changed by any means. Our education should be focused on societal needs so that our youth are prepared to participate in the local economy when they leave school.
“Those who graduated previously from colleges and universities who cannot get gainful employment must be encouraged to go back to undertake technical and vocational education, to gain new skills that are relevant for this age,” he said.
Olufemi Peters, the vice-chancellor of NOUN, corroborated with the Convocation lecturer on his submission that the right education is the one that gives employment to every youth.
He disclosed that the guest speaker Prof. Elifas Bisanda, a distinguished academic, has been the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) since June 3, 2015 and has a rich background in Mechanical Engineering.
