JONAED

The match between education and job is an important indication of the functioning of the labour market. To achieve this match, higher education curriculum has to be dynamic and relevant to address the changes in contemporary world of work and meet the needs of industries. This is because the tripod of curriculum, certification and world of work presupposes that individuals have to pass through some form of sequenced educational programme to produce qualified graduates with identifiable knowledge base and skills, who are competent and employable. This paper therefore clarified the concepts of curriculum, curriculum relevance in higher education, graduate unemployment and trauma. It examined how the different components of higher education curriculum can be made relevant to meet the knowledge and skill needs of graduates in order to mitigate unemployment and attendant psychological trauma of no longer needed. The need to integrate and rely on educational technologies in curriculum and instruction, laboratories, assignment design, and libraries were stressed. Specifically, linking research to instructional strategies, integration across curriculum, diversity learning, internationalization, learning communities, collaborative and inter-disciplinary studies, innovative instructional methods, innovative assessment techniques, and partnership with industries were discussed as potent strategies for making higher education curriculum relevant for producing employable graduates in the global world of work. It was concluded that it is only when higher education has consistently crafted most profound changes in contemporary world of work such as leadership abilities, problem solving skills, technology-driven learning, among others that graduates would be adequately prepared to work.