From the inaugural Chancellor’s Career Fair on August 13 – 14, 2018, the following recommendations were given by Industry Partners as some of the action points that should be implemented by the Government, Industry Players and Academia in partnership to bridge the skills-gap challenge among university graduates.

Recommendation 1: Partnership is called for; industry must inform the requirements of research capacities by Universities.

Recommendation 2: There is need to form a joint steering committee and appoint individuals from faculty to address the issue of bridging the gap. Universities should take up experiential learning, mentorship and planning of career fairs and bring on board industry and alumni to assist. Different sectors can assist in offering student trainings in different areas.

Recommendation 3: Dr. Manu Chandaria, Chairman Comcraft Group proposed that there is a clear understanding that without employers, Industry cannot work with universities. There is therefore need to create fora to discuss these issues.

Recommendation 4: Academia should be attached to the industry to have first-hand market experience for effective teaching. This should go along with a curriculum change to address new emerging areas in the industry both locally and globally.

Recommendation 5: As industry players, Universities should have representatives from industry to have a real classroom situation with students.

Recommendation 6: Industry and academic input is needed. Team up with industry and academia to deliver programmes at the university. There is also need to work on attitudes and mindsets of learners in a more organized way.

Recommendation 7: Universities need to review their curricular and embed technical skills in learning. This means that a demand driven training curriculum is needed and connections between industry and Universities should be facilitated.

The Office of Career Services is committed to realizing these recommendations through partnerships with various industry partners such as Unilever, Huawei, AfDB and the Mashav Program through the Israel Embassy.