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Education & Skills Development
training pursuits ; Industry-Academia leakages are likely to overpower the linkages unless appropriate actions are taken . If there are potent linkages , organizations could compete for fresh graduates to obtain new knowledge and innovativeness . Covid-19 has worsened the situation .
Every demographic has had its own share of Covid-19 pandemic effects . However , among all the demographics , the youth have been vastly affected despite their low infection rates . For instance , the lockdown measures have led to the rescheduling of their training and education , job losses , and mental health and emotional challenges due to the health and social-economic shocks resulting from the pandemic . Reimagining solutions that can reduce this impact is a top priority for governments , policymakers , private sector , education and training institutions , development agencies , and other critical actors in development .
Industry ’ s role in closing the leaking bridge between industry and academia
One of the top solutions that have been discussed for a while now is the industry ’ s role in improving education outcomes and increasing the transition rate of young people from education and training to work . Industries perform this role by establishing an effective Industry- Academia linkage ( IAL ), showing the current industry trends that training institutions should follow . Nonetheless , this function has a lot of complexities that have made it difficult to implement . The complexities range from definition , interpretation , and implementation .
Definition of IAL becomes a challenge when it is narrowly defined and assigned interpretation of the traditional conservative industry . The policy ’ s main aim is to show the current industry trends to allow training institutions to align their curriculum with the identified trends and emerging opportunities . Therefore , a poorly defined policy would limit its effectiveness . For instance , there are emerging occupations in recent times such as gig work , sports , digital economy , creative and blue economy and social development . Consequently , the policies and practice need to be clearly defined to reveal how such emerging trends can be addressed when creating the academiaindustry linkage .
Interpretation of IAL becomes a challenge when it ’ s taken as a linear process where young people start with education and skills and then link to industry for work exposure . There is a symbiotic relationship between industry and academia .
EdSource Quarterly | Oct-Dec l 2021