‘Growing number of African unemployed graduates time bomb’

The Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania, Prof. Elifas Tozo Bisanda, has decried the growing number of unemployed graduates in Africa, saying it is a time-bomb waiting to explode.

Bisanda stated this in Abuja on Friday while delivering the 13th Convocation Lecture of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) with the theme: “Is Western Education Still Relevant for Africa?”

He urged African graduates who cannot get gainful employment to go back and undertake technical and vocational education to gain new skills that are relevant for this age.

He said while the west is determined to keep Africans where they are, Africans must take affirmative action to get out of the mess they have imposed on them.

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“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,” he said.

He also emphasised the need to change the way institutions examine students in the region, saying “We should not try to find out how much of what they learnt they can remember, but test on how they can apply the knowledge acquired.”