Overview of the ICT / BPO Skills Development in Kenya

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE BY THE GOK Mary Kiguru|Director – International Center for Outsourcing Project Coordinator, KeMU Consortium September 17, 2013



 



According to the report Seizing the Prize – Driving BPO Sector Growth in Kenya, the sector has the potential to generate Ksh45 billion and 20,000 direct jobs by 2014 (Gathara, 2010). 300,000 high school graduates 30,000 university graduates per year Unknown number from tertiary institutions

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

40% Unemployment 67% unemployed are Youth

92% graduates seeking for paid employment

3%



3% engage as business operators (NESC)

We don’t have a jobs crisis in the world, we have a skills crisis (McKenzie) BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

Academia 72%

Industry 42% Graduates ready for work

Graduates ready for work

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

An initiative of the ICT Authority (GoK)  to develop international standard curriculum that will set the benchmark for BPO/ITES workers in Kenya.  Develop training capacity for the industry  Create a coordination mechanism to promote collaboration among stakeholders for joint approach in addressing unemployment 

Industry + Academia    

UoN – Anchor Institution KeMU Consortium – Training Partner RIPA International – Training Partner IBM – Strategic

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence







Informed by BPO stakeholders through the Kenya IT and Outsourcing Society (KITOS) and the academia Curriculum and content are based on feedback received Indication of the specific skills critical to making Kenya BPO sector move forward

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence





To facilitate further training of trainers for the industry Facilitate initial training (pilot)

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

  

CoE is hosted by the UoN To build employable skills for the BPO Sector Target: ◦ Youth directly from high school ◦ Youth in college/university



50 participants in the pilot training

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

 

Five day training for the industry on soft skills Skills training ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦



People management Attitude training Customer management Soft skills for the BPO/ITES industry

From the industry ◦ 10 BPO’s represented

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence



Marketing the Program



Identify the strength for Kenya

◦ Unknown to the youth ◦ Its potential not recognized ◦ Need for sensitization

◦ Which areas to concentrate on??     



Plan the program for different entry levels ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦



Software development Contact Center services Backoffice Technical Support Internet security

Agent level Expert Level Specialist Level Team Leaders & Managers

Modular offering of the program

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence





 

International Center for Outsourcing Studies at KeMU Offering BPO Certification Institute (BCI) programs Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Target group ◦ Working people ◦ First training at Diploma+

BPO/ITES Center of Excellence

Center of Excellence in BPO/ITES Training Kenya ©2012/13

An Initiative of ICT Authority

CoE Consortium University of Nairobi Kenya Methodist University + BCI + QAI RIPA International IBM BPO/ITES Center of Excellence