“When I meet the business community, they say they have enough jobs but can’t find suitable people. Universities are also saying they have trained people who cannot find jobs, and when you speak to the young people they will tell you that they have the qualifications but can’t find jobs,” Sezibera said, emphasising the need to harmonize all these challenges to get a solution.
Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie who chairs the Council of Ministers of the East African Community said she is concerned about “existing shortfalls in the way higher education systems engage in human resource development in the partner states” and urged institutions of higher learning to work closely with the governments and private sector in finding lasting solutions.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame whose speech was delivered by the country’s Education Minister Professor Silas Lwakabamba said he is optimistic the region’s socio-economic potential will be unlocked if universities devise new strategies.
“I call upon the academia community in the region to embark on further strategies that will make higher education to effectively contribute towards building diversity of the region’s knowledge base so as to meet societal development challenges,” Kagame told the conference themed “Harnessing East Africa’s Innovation Potential” which was held under the umbrella of the East African Community.
It followed similar meetings held in Tanzania and Kenya in the past two years when players agreed that East Africa will not make tremendous achievements in years to come unless research and innovation space is not expanded.
Rwanda’s Finance Permanent Secretary Kampeta Sayinzoga emphasized on the need for universities to produce self reliant graduates as “opposed to producing job seekers.”
“It is a question we should keep asking ourselves and must get answers because the. Umbrella of job seekers is increasing at an alarming rate,” Sayinzoga who also heads the East African Development Bank said.
At the end of the two-day conference, participants are expected to come up with long term solutions on ways of promoting strategic and sustainable development of higher education systems and research for supporting East Africa’s socio-economic development and regional integration.
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