Kajiado County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Education, Vocational Training, Youth, and Sports, Janet Sereu, has urged the youth who did not manage to attain the minimum grade required to join university to pursue courses offered in technical institutions.
The CECM encouraged the youth not to lose hope but to pursue technical courses offered across various vocational colleges in the country, noting that blue-collar jobs are as important as white-collar jobs.
“The world is made out of innovations. There are a lot of opportunities in innovations compared to white-collar jobs. Most economies in the developed countries, like Turkey, are being supported by vocational skills, as most of the people are earning a living through innovations. You can be self-employed after pursuing a technical course,” she said.
She urged parents not to undermine the potential of the youth who did not perform well in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations but to encourage them to pursue technical courses.
“Tailoring, Mechanical engineering, plumbing, and hairdressing, among other technical courses, are very important skills to acquire and can earn one a lot of money and opportunities than one who is just idling in the village,” emphasised Sereu.
Sereu remarked that the Kajiado county government has partnered with the Kenya Chamber of Commerce to train youths on setting up Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and to offer them starting capital so that the youth can have alternative sources of livelihood.
The minimum requirements for admission to polytechnics across the country for artisans or level 4 is a mean grade of E in KCSE. For the craft or Level 5, one has to acquire a mean grade of D and above, while for Diploma or Level 6, one has to score a mean grade of C- and above.
Applications for the January 2025 intake are currently ongoing in all TVETs across the country and will end on January 17th 2025.
According to the Ministry of Education, 1,693 (0.18%) candidates obtained an overall grade A in the year 2024 KCSE examination compared to 1,216 (0.14%) candidates in 2023.
The number of candidates with direct university entry qualifications of grade C+ and above was 246,391 (25.53%) in the year 2024 KCSE examination compared to 201,133 (22.27%) in 2023.
The number of candidates with grade C- (TVET Diploma) and above was 476,889 (49.41%) in the year 2024 KCSE examination compared to 401,216 (44.42%) in 2023.
The number of candidates with a pass grade (grade D+ and above) was 605,774 (62.76%) in the year 2024 KCSE examination compared to 526,222 (58.27%) in 2023.
By Diana Meneto
