The government has introduced reforms in Technical and Vocational Training Centres to eradicate skill mismatches through competent training.
State Department for Vocational and Technical Training Principal Secretary PS Margaret Mwakima said the government has rolled out reforms in the TVET sector.
She said this will see a shift from supply-based to demand-based training involving industry players in order to guarantee relevance to the country’s economic growth.
Speaking while presiding over the 10th graduation ceremony at the Rift Valley Technical Training Institute, the PS said the country’s economic growth is anchored on the youths’ capacity to acquire relevant and competent technical skills.
“The government acknowledges that Vocational Education and Technical Training is an integral component of national development," Mwakima said.
"Therefore, the government has been establishing TVET institutions to expand opportunities for the youth to acquire important technical skills.”
The PS, who was accompanied by Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno, underscored the importance of adequate skilled human capital.
Human capital is critical in the transformation of Kenya into an industrialising, middle–income economy that affords high quality of life by the year 2030, she said.
“In order to encourage more young people to join TVET institutions, the government has standardised the cost of training at Sh56,420 annually with the government providing a capitation grant of Sh30,000 per trainee per annum.”
Mwakima further said that the government was in the process of recruiting an additional 3,000 new trainers to bridge the existing huge trainee-trainer ratio in TVET institutions.
She noted that students’ enrolment in the technical institutions had increased to 249,316 in 2021 from 55,945 in 2013 hence the need for more trainers and funding.
The PS said the government is committed to making TVET education viable, competitive, and an essential part of the country’s tertiary education system.
“The Ministry will continue to support TVETs through development grants and employment of trainers,” she said.
She added that her department was committed to coming up with lasting solutions on the welfare of the trainers in liaison with the Public Service Commission.
The PS urged the graduands to put the skills learned to good use and to apply the same skills to build the nation.
“I call upon you to seek innovative solutions to the current global challenges such as climate change and urge you to engage in climate-smart practices as you embark on social-economic development,” she said.
In his remarks, Chemno said it was time the national government banned the training of diplomas and certificates in national and private universities.
He said diploma and certificate training was not a core function of universities.
Chemno also said that the period for training students undertaking TVET diploma courses should not be below three years.
He urged institutions to train students in a manner that the job market is confident about and without wasting the trainees’ time and resources through dubious and outdated courses.
Chemno said that most students who qualify to join universities have opted to join TVET institutions because of their knowledge of the importance of the courses offered.
(edited by Amol Awuor)