Business News

The Kenyan IT Training Scene: Some Observations[i]

Matunda Nyanchama, PhD; Nsemia Information Technologies Ltd; P. O. Box 62423, Nairobi, Kenya; Telefax: 254-2-242479; matunda@csd.uwo.ca; nsemia@africaonline.co.ke

Preamble

Information Technology (IT) is becoming a catch word and part of the common vocabulary in the local market. A perusal of local papers reveals trends that are taking root in Kenya. Job advertisements, quite often ask for qualifications that include computing skills. It does not matter whether a position is managerial, accounting, purchasing, engineering, etc. Computers, a major component of the IT arena, form a common thread.

These trends are similar to those in developed countries where governments and companies, apart from focusing on downsizing and restructuring, talk about retraining, especially in computing skills. Retraining is targeted at workers with few or no skills in IT. Its purpose is to equip workers with capabilities and skills to enable them can face the challenges in the fast-paced IT-dominated market place. This is the so called high-tech market in which computing and telecommunications, the two key components IT, play leading roles.

Computing has become almost pervasive in business and other sectors mainly because of the advent and adoption of the desk top personal computer, popularly known as the PC. Invented in the seventies and actualized in the eighties, the PC packages computing power onto a small desk top. It has been said that the famous IBM XT has as much power as the computers that took the Apollo to the moon! The PC has come a long way since its invention. In particular, PC products are becoming more and more powerful with time. It is estimated (according to Moore’s Law) that processing power doubles every 18 months! (Others say that this trend may peak soon.)

The PC has enabled small companies and individuals to afford and hence have access to computing power which they would not afford otherwise afford in the past. Moreover, the general purpose nature of this gadget has ensured its continued penetration of the market. The invention and popularisation of networking has added value to PCs and brought down the cost of computing power. No longer must one own a mini computer to realize a certain level of computing. Moreover, the flexible nature of networks, which facilitates incremental growth, has ensured the continued use of the PC.

While IT has not become as dominant in Kenya as in industrialized

Countries, it is steadily, albeit slowly, taking root. Indeed, with the globalization of the world economy, no country can afford to miss this trend if it ever hopes to be competitive on the world stage. The IT tide, some call it a revolution in the same scale as that brought by the automobile, is surely sweeping along everyone, even those that would wish to remain on the IT river bank.

The Focus of Kenyan IT Training

While in industrialised countries much of the activity is centred on retraining, the reverse is true in Kenya. Much of the training here focuses on basic IT literacy with the core beneficiaries being potentially fresh entrants in the job market. And while there is much retraining going on in many companies and government institutions, basic training for workers entering the market predominates. Private computer training colleges form the core of such efforts.

There are a number of such training colleges in the country. In the past, government institutions have played a leading role in this aspect. Thus we had the popular Diploma in Computer Science from the University of Nairobi while government-financed/run polytechnics have also been central to this activity. Today, almost all universities, polytechnics and colleges of technology offer computer training in some form or another.

This notwithstanding, recent trends indicate that the private sector is taking a lead in this direction. At the moment, there may well be several times more people studying at private colleges than there are in public institutions. These private colleges have evolved to occupy a major void that cannot otherwise be filled by public alone. As demand for computer-literate personnel keeps growing, these colleges will remain key players in the local IT market.

At the moment, many of these private colleges offer basic computer literacy courses mainly on the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS)/Windows and IBM compatible platforms. Along with these basics, a number of the schools teach application packages as WordPerfect for word processing, dBase for database management, Lotus-123/Quattro Pro for spreadsheets, etc. Some offer specialized applications in accounting, inventory management, etc. Few teach programming languages (like Pascal, COBOL, Basic, etc.) and software development.

Graduates from many of these institutions receive internal certificates indicating material covered while some, in a limited number of colleges sit for external examinations such as those of the Association of Computing Professionals (ACP) and the IDPM of the UK. At the moment, there exists no national body offering a widely accepted/recognized national examination.

The Need for Training Standards

A number of people have expressed concerns about the unregulated/unguided nature of IT training in Kenya. Fingers are often pointed at the training colleges. It has been said that many of them are, as a matter of priority, in the business of making and hence care less about the nature of their products. It is said that a number of them are ill-placed to run such training be that in terms of personnel and equipment. Moreover, given there is no national examination, many of them doing not know what kind of graduates they are producing. For employers, this must be something to worry about.

In general, a number of these commercial training institutions offer programmes like secretarial, typing, shorthand and the like. For many of these, the need for word processing knowledgeable secretaries had led to the inclusion of basic computer literary courses in their menu. Others offer accounting and the need for computer-literate accounting personnel led them to incorporate computing courses. There are a few started with the basic aim of offering computer training. My own company, Nsemia Information Technologies Ltd., is one such college. Among other things, it aims at training personnel in computing to a degree that would assure high quality and to ensure trainees become comfortable with the technology. (The company does more that training including offering hardware services, software development and consulting, among other things. However, since the focus of this article is training, we do not get into these areas.)

There are number issues one can take up with the way computing colleges come into being. More can be said about the manner in which they carry their stock of trade.

Today, anyone with any little exposure to computing, albeit with some money to afford a few PCs, can open shop and advertise computer training. They then proceed to produce trained personnel. Whether these trainees are getting their money’s worth is something the Kenyan market should worry about.

Other worries include the calibre and hence quality of teaching personnel in some of these institutions. While a number are doing a good job to ensure properly qualified personnel handle the students, there are some colleges where the quality of staff should be a concern for the public and potential employers. The Kenyan consumer remains fairly unsophisticated with respect to choosing a proper training college. It is doubtful whether many are making objective choices. It will take a while before such sophistication is attained.

There is more. A number of schools are ill-equipped for training given they have insufficient facilities. For example, in a number of schools, one can find as many as five trainees crammed around one machine. It is doubtful whether they gain much given that effective teaching of computing skills requires major hands on exposure.

Trainers, trainees and everyone else must be concerned if we ever hope to improve the quality of personnel in this sector. It is disappointing to see the kind of graduates coming out of some of these institutions. Consider the case of this lady who came looking for a job and claimed to have done word processing but has no sufficient courage to switch a machine on! She knew neither to format a diskette in MS-DOS nor could she move files around from a diskette to another! Yet she is said to have passed with distinction in her leaving certificate! She had even trained in one of the more famous colleges in the city. Colleges should be wary of their long term reputation if they hope to survive in the market. Proper training will weed out the best from the rest.

Some people have argued that the marketplace will weed out the quacks leaving the meritorious ones to stand, the so called survival of the fittest. This is a fact of life that cannot be denied. However, this will happen over a long haul of waiting. In the meantime, a number of such mis-trained personnel stand to pay very dearly for this flaw. A number of companies would have paid the price either through retraining or costly shoddy jobs. On the overall, the economy stands to pay dearly should the trend continue.

There is a way to speed up the attainment of standards. Through core guidelines, we could get a sense of standards and expectations from graduates of these colleges. Stipulated directions could, to a great extent local IT training standards while helping employers evaluate the kind of personnel that seek jobs with them.

There is a national IT training standards committee that seeks such basic guidelines. The body proposes basic staffing standards for colleges, the scope and depth of content for particular courses, examination guidelines for various qualifications, etc.

It is hoped that with such guidelines, there would be created a national IT examinations body similar to the Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board, KASNEB.

Alternatively, they would persuade the Kenyan Examinations Council to offer such examinations. How far this body would be acceptable, is not clear. What is clear is that the guidelines they propose are reasonable.

We must distinguish between guidelines and control. The former is advisory while the latter imposes (say) government-mandated controls. Clearly, control is not the way to go given the liberalization of key sector of the economy. Regulation Excessive regulation and control is likely to stifle creativity, impose unnecessary and costly bureaucratic controls. This would generally slow development and reduce the vibrancy that is so necessary for growth.

Guidelines will allow both trainers and employers to have some kind of standard expectations from graduates of certain calibre. Just as we talk of KCE qualification so also shall we know what it means to be competent in word processing for a computing college graduate.

Issues of Hardware Maintenance

Standards aside, the local IT scene also faces a number of problems, especially with respect to equipment maintenance. It has been suggested elsewhere that could all maintainable equipment in the African region be made functional, it could alleviate up to 30% or so of equipment needs and hence reduce the region’s import bill.

There are a number of companies that carry out technical repairs. Like many IT training colleges, many of these are ill-equipped to undertake their services effectively. There is more. Repairs charges, in this country, tend to be exorbitant. Indeed, the cost at times cannot justify the job and hence one might opt for new equipment. Coupled with the low computer literacy levels in the country the situation is worsened.

A challenge to trainers is to venture into hardware maintenance training. There is a major shortage of such people in the industry. It is said that there are tons of machines in (especially) government establishments and corporations that would be functional with minor repairs. Lack of maintenance personnel seems like a very costly business.

Other General Concerns

There are other concerns of a general nature that IT trainers face like any other business people. These include infrastructure: roads, power supply (especially its reliability), water supply, etc.

Electricity blackouts are a common occurrence in Nairobi and trainers have not been spared this inconvenience.

Like others businesses trainers face the daily vagaries of mismanagement of the local authorities. The pot-holed roads, uncollected garbage, irregular water supply and the like hamper the business effectiveness of many trainers. Poorly planned and mismanaged parking spaces in towns are a major handicap for many a business. At some times during the day, some places are simply impassable mainly because of traffic congestion. Yes, congestion caused due to implanted traffic flows.

Other problems include the cost of equipment. Computers in this country are still too expensive and hence out of reach of most people. The situation is exacerbated by fluctuating exchange rates. When the shilling drops KHz 8 against the US dollar, the Kenyan buyer’s price goes up by (say) Kshs 8,000.00 for U$1,000 worth of imports. Kshs8, 000.00 is the equivalent of a monthly salary for fresh university graduates!

And there is more: the interest rates. At close to 30% annual rate, one can only guess that we have alluded to the unsophisticated IT consumer in the country.

The cost of telecommunication services as well as the general inefficiency of the sector is yet another handicap to business in Kenya. This country has one of the highest telecommunication tariffs in the world. For example, a three-minute international call costs U$4.00 while in other countries this could be as low as U$0.90cts.

Way Forward

The issue of networking was alluded to earlier. Advantages of networking include resource-sharing and increased computing power, especially if distributed computing is used. Networking forms a key area that trainers should focus on. The country badly needs people with skills in networking including set up, configuration and management. My hunch is that we have not seen much installed networking because companies are not sure they can get qualified personnel to man them.

In the rest of the world the hype is about the Internet and its potential for business. If companies hope to utilize this world-wide tool to reach others of similar concerns, they need a networking base that would form the basic infrastructure for the entrenchment of the Internet. Trainers have the challenge of producing qualified personnel to run such a tool.

Copyright © 1996 Matunda Nyanchama