The Government of Japan will offer Masters and Doctorate scholarships through its Japan Development Project to young civil servants in the country so as to capacity build the public service sector.
The programme, which will be offered through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is expected to be rolled out next year, with the first group of cohorts expected to go for the studies in Japan in 2021.
The programme under the Japanese grant will support human resource development and capacitation and will target highly capable government officials to set up a new framework for public service in the country.
The JICA Country Director, Miku Hoshino and her Assistant on Tuesday met with the Public Service Commissioners headed by Chairperson, Stephen Kirogo to discuss the programme.
According to Kirogo, the government is keen on such collaborations that seek to capacity build the public service in the country on governance and ethical values.
“Our work is to identify needs to the Japanese government so as to get the right skills on areas of governance and productivity,” said Kirogo, who further requested JICA to consider doing trainer of trainer courses that would equip the larger public service.
On her part, Hoshino noted that the programme will depend on the need of the Kenyan government and called on the Kirogo led commission to give them full support in identifying proper needs that would be relevant to the country.
She mentioned that so far the programme which began in 1999 has penetrated 16 other countries with Kenya being the latest to join the fray. She said over 4000 people have already been trained under the grant in Japan.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is a governmental agency that coordinates Official Development Assistance for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries and the promotion of international cooperation.
By Alice Gworo
