Nyeri County Government has pledged to continue undertaking improvement works at all the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVETs) centres in the area in order to boost enrollment.
Speaking over the weekend after touring the Nairutia Technical and Vocational Education and Training college in Kieni West sub county, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga said it is only through turning such institutions into centres of excellence that the country can tap on skills that can lift majority of the youths from jaws of poverty and hopelessness.
Kahiga further lauded the Ministry of Education through the Department of Vocational Education and Training for availing both material and financial support to the County TVETs which he said had gone a long way in improving learning.
“My administration has remained committed to the improvement of vocational training centres in the county where students acquire skills and knowledge to shape their future,” he said while addressing staff and learners at the institution.
“Meanwhile, I wish to also thank the National Government, our partners especially Goalsmile Onlus through the contact person Joseph Kagiri and Zizi Afrique who have provided the institution with financial, material and other support to enable the students to access contemporary training materials and equipment,” he added.
The County boss similarly disclosed that in the last five years, his administration has rehabilitated and operationalised about 40 TVETs from the initial 11 that were in existence before he came into office.
Early this month the Governor had said his administration had roped in Tvets in production of furniture for Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDE) in the county.
He made the remarks outside his office when he flagged off stationery and learning equipment worth Sh 4.2 million for the ECDEs.
The equipment included chairs, tables, chalks, pencils, pens, exercise books and manila papers
The 150 chairs for the teachers were made at the Karatina Vocational Training College while the 150 tables were put together by Nairutia VTC.
“When we don’t make our teachers comfortable, then we have a challenge and we may not have them delivering as expected.150 tables and 150 chairs is a good start. That means we have 650 to go because we have 800 teachers who we must make sure are in a good working environment,” said the governor during the flagging off ceremony.
And during his inaugural address to the Nyeri County Assembly in October 5 last year following his re-election into office, Kahiga announced plans to transform all TVETs into business hubs and centres of excellence in each of the eight sub counties and also promised to ensure the education centres were staffed with skilled instructors to ensure they churn out graduates whose skills match those needed in the market.
“In order to transform the Vocational Training Centres into business hubs and centres of excellence in each of the eight sub counties, we will recruit highly skilled instructors to make them more innovative and competitive in the informal market. This will improve the basic foundation of our children in education and also create a good environment to improve their innovativeness and performance,” he said.
“We have invested in Rukira Youth Polytechnic to make it a centre of Excellence for leather production as a model to be replicated in every subcounty. The Mwalimu Shoe under production in Rukira will be our flagship cottage industry product and will be used by our children from lower levels to our bursary recipients. This will spur production and create jobs for our youth,” he announced.
By Samuel Maina
