State Department for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has intensified the rollout of the Dual Training System in the TVET curriculum to address the unemployment and skills gap among the youth.
Through the curriculum reforms, graduates would be largely exposed to practical knowledge required to join the job market than theory-based education.
The module allows learning to take place alternately in two venues – the training centre and the company.
The Government has partnered with industries and institutions to roll out the new system where trainees typically spend 70 percent at a company and only 30 percent at a vocational centre and subsequently get absorbed into the firms upon graduation.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu stated that the adoption of the Dual Training System was in line with the Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) module for TVETs that is anchored on practical and industrial exposure.
In a speech read on his behalf by State Department for TVET Principal Secretary, Dr Esther Muoria during the launch of Kisumu National Polytechnic Strategic Plan (2023-2027) on Wednesday, Machogu noted that the new system provides an effective way to incorporate practical knowledge from industries with theories taught in the classrooms.
“This shift will focus on training learners for specific industries depending on the labour demand. The firms will tell us the skills that they need which will inform our decision to admit students for a particular course with an idea of the companies they will work for upon graduating,” stated the Cabinet Secretary.
Through the help of our partner industries and institutions, Machogu pointed out, the trainees have the opportunity to be exposed to actual work conditions, and get hands-on experience and guidance from the already qualified staff thus increasing chances of their employability.
On her part, the Principal Secretary TVET Dr Muoria, reiterated the profound benefits of the dual training system citing it as a key driver in revolutionising the TVET sector and boosting the output of the young workforce.
The new training modality, she noted, enables trainees to acquire work ethics and learn the culture of the company in the process of learning the needed skills.
“Companies tell us the skills they want to be trained at TVET centers. Hence, 70% of the coursework for the trainees are based in these industries, offering them an opportunity to also learn the company’s culture. This produces all-rounded graduates who can easily fit in the job market,” Muoria explained.
In addition, the PS stated that the government seeks to leverage the global space to establish a dual training system with firms in foreign countries to develop a local workforce whose skills are aligned and meet international standards.
“We are seeking to also dual with Germany, Indonesia and Canada so that a trainee who gets a certificate from Kisumu National Polytechnic is also qualified to work in either country,” stated Dr. Muoria
To upscale the adoption and implementation of its programs, the government has also partnered with the Juakali associations with a view of supplying expertise, labor and skills in the affordable housing project, the recognition of prior learning, entrepreneurship training and in the development of incubation centers across the country.
By Robert Ojwang’
