Hi
I am a newbie at this so i ask you to bear with me if i make any silly mistakes. I was just having an argument with my roommate about the education system in our country, am proudly Kenyan. The education system we were arguing about is the university system, now the main bone of contention is actually practical lessons in most uni's and colleges. For those who don't know about the current  situation in Kenya and most parts of the world is that most college grads are jobless despite having a degree and some of these degrees are from very good courses and respectable Universities as well, i know what most of you will say "They probably didn't get good grades or honors", " There are probably many people in that field", "There are currently not many job opportunities compared to the outflow of graduates from the institutions of higher learning" and so on and whatever your reason your probably right but what about self employment why cant most graduates who are jobless take up self employment? Answer practical skills,hands on skills that's what most graduates lack, example a computer science graduate who cant create a simple calculator in lets say java or a Business student who majored in sales and marketing but cant even conduct a simple market research that's the reality of today's graduates and sadly most interviews this days have taken an unorthodox style requiring a demonstration of your skills apart from your your impressive papers and having mastered the theoretical aspect of the field your practical skills are nothing short of horrific and you lose the spot to a guy who attended a technical college.
Its sad really and i know being an undergraduate myself the future looks bleak. I have never been one to judge but i believe our education is partly if not wholly responsible for the current situation. One to no practical lessons  for units that require practicals is the situation in most institutions, so how are we supposed to learn these skills? Yes you might argue that one should be independent and do your own research and i agree but there are certain resources that only a university or college can offer like state of the arts labs, i mean there students who cant afford personal computers to do research on their fields of study or even to attempt the practicals on their own. Even attending that practical lesson does not guarantee a practical session some lectures take it as an extra lesson to lecture. Now where am i going to get the skills from?
 It takes time to understand the implications of what am talking about but let me give just a simple example lets say your in a cookery  class and you have gone through the theoretical aspects all of it the different types of meals, how to prepare them, different types of ingredients and what not ; so now your home your alone and your hungry and you have bought everything you need to prepare a meal and then after preparing your ingredients its time to cook you open the gas valve first and light the match and you all know what happens next, I am not a cookery student but am sure in the first practical lesson the first thing you are is how to light the gas stove.
In conclusion i am advocating for more practical lessons where they actually teach practical skills. Am just saying it wont hurt to try. I say the system should give us a fighting chance.