The National and County Government of Tana River have jointly spent Sh91 million in the past one year to improve facilities in vocational training centres in the County, Governor Dhadho Godhana has said.
The County Government of Tana River spent Sh70 million while the National Government topped up with Sh21 million as conditional grants to provide facilities in the youth training centres, he said.
The governor said this in a speech read on his behalf by County Executive Member for Education Abass Kunyo during the inaugural Annual Tana River County Skills Fair and Exhibition at the Hola Stadium where the six vocational centres showcased their training programmes in various trades learnt at the centres.
He said the county government was giving every VTC trainee tuition fees amounting to Sh15, 000 annually and asked many young people to ignore the stereotype that VTCs were havens for failures and join them enmasse.
“I would like to disabuse the notion that VTCs are meant for people who failed their national examinations because some people have used their VTC certificates to earn degrees,” he said.
He said his government was implementing projects on apprenticeship and training to improve young people’s skills and employability by providing competencies for the development of hands-on workers and a skilled human resource base for the county’s development.
Dr. Godhana lamented that despite many young people going through formal education up to university levels, many employers were unable to find people with critical skills to fill vacant positions.
“VTC learners, in particular apprentices, usually land their first jobs quicker than university graduates,” he noted, and called for concerted efforts to improve vocational training.
He said there was need to strengthen the county’s efforts to equip people of all ages with the skills needed to participate fully in the labour market by changing the image and reality of vocational training in order to make it a preferred choice.
“Many young people have interests and talents for more practical learning and jobs as opposed to general academic and education,” he said. “The old fashioned perception of vocational jobs as menial and low skills jobs is certainly not true.”
He said during the next county medium term budget, his administration would prioritize funding for vocational training as well as improve and equip early learning centres, including absorbing all qualified all ECDE teachers to permanent and pensionable terms.
Trade, Industrial Development and Cooperatives County Executive Yahya Ali Barrow said plans were underway to renovate and re-open all jua kali sheds in the county to enable graduates from vocational training centres to practice their skills and earn a living.
Also present at the function was Tana River Woman Representative Rehema Hassan who assured the county government of her support in its efforts to prioritize and popularize vocational training.
By Emmanuel Masha
