Higher education and the labour market: a logical framework for policy makers in Africa's education sector

Abstract

The paper provides a logical framework depicting the main linkages between the educational sector and the labour market, to explain the sources of the low rates of return to higher education and the increasing educated unemployment in Africa and to guide the formulation of a comprehensive human resource development policy on the continent. Though only Ghanaian and Nigerian data is used to evaluate the extent of the "mismatch" between educational output and labour market requirements, the findings and hence the recommendations could be generally applied to other African countries. The main recommendation for raising the impacts of higher education on Africa's development is to establish and strengthen the flow and the utilisation of labour market information in higher educational institutions and matching the provision of public resources with national manpower requirements.