Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) Principal Secretary (PS), Dr. Margaret Mwakima has underscored the importance of TVET in achieving the country’s industrialization goal as envisioned in vision 2030.
Speaking during the 10th TVET conference held in Eldoret town and attended by scholars, researchers, trainers and trainees within the sector, Dr. Mwakima noted that innovation, research and dissemination of information towards enterprise development is the baseline and key towards industrialization.
The Conference attracted various researchers across the country and outside to share their research findings that will lead to publication in a peer-referenced journal.
“The peer-referenced journal will be able to inform and also form the policies and reforms.
The PS emphasized the importance of youths engaging in innovation and being useful citizens by participating in developmental agenda for prosperity.
“TVET is the way to go and as far as progressing the ‘Big Four’ agenda, Vision 2030 and Standard Treatment Guidelines (STGs) is concerned, the best ways to create employment and offer job opportunities for our youths is through imparting knowledge that will spur innovations,” she said.
Dr. Mwakima noted that if the youths are engaged and become part and parcel of economic drivers, the delinquencies experienced will reduce and set the country’s development on a progressive mode, thus making them useful in the society,” she added.
“Therefore, as the Ministry we are committed to equity and accessibility to equip our students with necessary training and skills. This has prompted us to roll out a very comprehensive program that each County should at least have one national polytechnic, each Constituency to have a technical training institute and each ward to have a vocational training institute,” the PS reiterated.
The PS highlighted that enrollment to TVETS will be achieved through the capitation fee offered by the government and bridge the gap through the Higher Educations Loan Board (HELB) and also by engaging likeminded partners such as Equity’s wings to fly and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Innovations program.
“We are going to work very closely with the industry and through this conference we challenge the TVET institutions to come up with very robust Industrial liaison team in reforming assessment and placement,” she added.
The PS called upon the youths to embrace TVET, adding that soon the Ministry will make a pathway for higher education in the sector.
“I want to encourage youths who dropped out of school that this will not be the end of them, we are restructuring to enable even a class eight drop out to be able to access the education and study gradually up to professorship level,” she reiterated.
Uasin Gishu Governor, Jackson Mandago, encouraged the ministry to continue with their support by granting students Sh30,000 and HELB which in particular has enabled many students in the County access education, thus empowering them both academically and economically.
“We are practically seeing the impact of TVET at community level and my Administration takes this seriously and we have sponsored many students in accessing higher education,” he confirmed.
Madago noted that TVETs is one of the most successful programs that are impacting on the youth in providing solutions to problems through innovations,” added Mandago.
The Governor challenged the researchers to come up with a proper name for the Jua kali sector because the current name seems to demoralize the sector yet some of their products are superior compared to imports coming from other countries,” he noted.
Chief Principal Eldoret National Polytechnic, Josphat Sawe, called upon the youth to embrace TVET as a key to achieving economic empowerment and making Kenya an industrial hub.
The conference attracted principals TVET institutions from Garissa, Turkana and North Rift Region. Last year’s conference was held virtually due to Covid-19.
By Hassan Adan Ali
