LEARNING, CURRICULUM DESIGN AND EMPLOYABILITY OF UNIVERSITY GRADUATES IN KENYA.

Abstract

The Management University of Africa graduates over 400 students every year in various disciplines. According to the 2022 Employers’ Tracer Study carried out by Management University of Africa, 71% of the graduates of 2021 were employed (including the 10% who were self-employed). Over 50 key employers were identified during the survey (Public and Private). One of the key recommendations of the Tracer Study report was to decrease unemployment through the inclusion of stakeholder expectations in the process of curriculum development. In Kenya, despite the rising levels of education, many graduates face very high unemployment rates. This raises questions on the demand and market orientation of the university learning, curriculum development and whether the university course designers are cognizant of labor market trends. It’s for this reason this paper sought to investigate the effect of university learning, curriculum design on employability of graduates. Graduates with “employability skills” like teamwork, communication skills, decision making, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and the ability to motivate others to achieve a common goal are in high demand from employers. Investing in employability skills training in the universities is essential for creating a high-performance work culture. The specific objectives of this study are: to find out the effect of teaching methodology on employability and to examine the effect of curriculum design on employability. The study adopted desktop review of market surveys, teaching effectiveness evaluation surveys and tracer studies surveys at Management University of Africa. The study findings were analyzed using themes and presented in charts and tables.