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

2. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  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

3. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  We don’t have a jobs crisis in the world, we have a skills crisis (McKenzie) 40% Unemployment 67% unemployed are Youth 92% graduates seeking for paid employment 3% 3% engage as business operators ( NESC)

4. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence Industry 42% Graduates ready for work Academia 72% Graduates ready for work

5. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  "We are questioning the quality of education offered in our universities," said Federation of Kenya Employers Executive Director Jacqueline Mugo. "Most graduates we hire do not have the skills in their areas of study to help them compete in the workplace. They have nice [degrees] that they cannot defend in the field.“  employers are often forced to pay to train workers in order to fill the skill gap. (FKE)  “Research has revealed that there is a mismatch between what is offered at the universities and what the industry requires. The course is supposed to sharpen the skills level of our students to increase their employability.”

6. 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

7. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  Have Quality curriculum that meets the needs of the ITES/BPO industry and defines the profile of a BPO worker  Use of innovative tools and techniques in training and assessment to develop desired skills and competences  Use ICT in the creation of value added tools for self-paced evaluation, self-paced tutorials, simulation of job scenarios,  Focus on National Problems that require research and development and provision of solutions

8. 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

9. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  Inform the curriculum and mode of delivery  Assure the quality of training, content and trainers  Give feedback on the content

10. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  Engagement of Consortium members ◦ Market research ◦ Curriculum design ◦ Content development ◦ Trainer Development ◦ Pilot phase ◦ Quality Assurance

11. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  To facilitate further training of trainers for the industry  Facilitate initial training (pilot)

12. 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

13. 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

14. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  Marketing the Program ◦ Unknown to the youth ◦ Its potential not recognized ◦ Need for sensitization  Identify the strength for Kenya ◦ Which areas to concentrate on??  Software development  Contact Center services  Backoffice  Technical Support  Internet security  Plan the program for different entry levels ◦ Agent level ◦ Expert Level ◦ Specialist Level ◦ Team Leaders & Managers  Modular offering of the program

15. BPO/ITES Center of Excellence  Ensure curriculum and content relevance  Prepare trainers  Monitor and evaluate ◦ Training approach ◦ Use of the manuals ◦ Suitability of the manuals

16. 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+

17. 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