07/10/2026
ECONOMISTS SOCIETY OF KENYA CONFERENCE 2026.
The Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Prof. John Kobia Ataya, delivered a keynote presentation at the Economists Society of Kenya (ESK) Conference held on 6th October 2026.
He spoke on the theme:
“Reforming Higher Education to Meet Future Labour Market Needs,” highlighting the urgent need to re-imagine university education to respond to a rapidly changing economy and future workforce.
In his presentation, he emphasized the need for universities to move beyond simply preparing graduates to secure jobs, and instead develop competent people who can create value, solve problems and shape the future.
Key areas highlighted included:
A) Competency-Based Learning:
Moving from accumulation of information to the ability to understand, interpret and apply knowledge.
B) Skills Development:
Strengthening applied learning, value addition and the capacity to transform ideas into useful products and solutions.
C) University–Industry Partnerships:
Ensuring curricula and learning experiences are closely connected to real-world work and emerging labour market needs.
D)Interdisciplinary Education:
Bringing together economics, technology and social realities to address complex development challenges.
E) Lifelong Learning:
Creating continuous opportunities for retooling, reskilling and micro-credentials as professional skills evolve.
F) Re-imagining Doctoral Education: encouraging doctoral research to demonstrate practical impact, generate solutions and create measurable societal and economic value.
He further underscored the importance of human capital, ethical leadership, responsible work and stewardship, drawing from KeMU’s guiding philosophy of “Laborare est Orare” To Work is to Pray.
“Universities must become active partners in economic transformation preparing people not only to enter jobs, but to create value, solve problems and shape the future.”
