British Council holds interactive session on graduate employment

The British Council will on Wednesday, 26 February, hold an interactive session with stakeholders in the Education sector to discuss graduate employability and inclusive development with a view to advancing effective policy to address unemployment challenges. Continue...

The Forum, which will attract participants from the academia, employers of labour, young people and policy makers, will deliberate on research findings from Nigeria’s current education policies and statistics, according to a statement by the British Council Communication Manager, Mr. Desmond Omovie.

It said existing research shows that despite global attention to higher education and employability, there is a surprisingly weak evidence base. “Little is known about the causes of poor graduate outcomes and what universities can do to improve their offering,” the statement said.

It announced that the British Council has commissioned a three-year study exploring the role universities can play in promoting graduate employability in five countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and the UK. The research is led by the Institute of Education, University of London, in partnership with Kenyatta University, Kenya; University of the Free State, South Africa; University of Education, Winneba, Ghana; and University of Ibadan and University of Lagos, Nigeria.

The research will find out, among others,

·      Why there is graduate unemployment?

Indications are that there are a range of factors, but causal links are not clearly established.

·      What exactly are the levels of knowledge/skills/etc. of graduates?

There are few rigorous gauges of student learning, meaning that assessments of graduate attributes and work readiness are largely impressionistic.

·     How effective are university-based interventions?

Where there are policies and initiatives in place to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, or initiatives targeted at enhancing employability such as entrepreneurship courses, impact on students is largely unknown.

The research will assess the overall situation in the selected countries and identify recent initiatives that have sought to address the challenges. The project will also assess the key role of university partnerships – with a particular focus on how UK universities might collaborate with universities in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve university education.