Abstract
The issue of graduate unemployment often crops up in the mass media; and more often than not, the discussions have centred on the failure of tertiary educational institutions to churn out quality graduates. Thus, the method of work-based learning (WBL) is seen as a way to improve the soft skills of the graduates. The study was conducted using quantitative research survey; the design of the study used an adapted questionnaire as an instrument. Data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 20. The respondents consisted of 97 students who attended WBL programmes at a community college. Descriptive statistics was used to extract data from the questionnaires for the calculation of mean. The findings reveal that the level of soft skills among community college students was high, and they include these abilities: communication skills, problem-solving skills, learning and information management, professional ethics skills and leadership skills.
Highlights
According to Community College Management Sector GCMS (2010), workbased learning (WBL) is an approach to learning and innovative teaching that involves cooperation between Community College Management Sector and the participating companies
Premised on the discussions of the findings, it is concluded that the implementation of WBL programmes in the community colleges has produced students with a high level of soft skills
The findings clearly show that students who have attended community colleges that implemented WBL possess a high level of soft skills
Summary
According to Community College Management Sector GCMS (2010), workbased learning (WBL) is an approach to learning and innovative teaching that involves cooperation between Community College Management Sector and the participating companies. WBL is a learning approach that requires work placements as part of the students’ learning process in their institutions; this learning style will increase employmentrelated competencies, real-world work experiences and expertise in industrial applications (Becker, 2013). This may address the issues related to graduate unemployment-often talked about by the academic community and the employers who regard it as a failure of higher educational institutions to produce quality graduates. The cooperation between the educational institutions and the industry is the best way to shape the curriculum in determining the skills required
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