Over 150 students who were sponsored by KCB Foundation have graduated from Mawego Technical Institute in Homa Bay County.
The programme dubbed 2jiajiri scholarship is geared towards enabling school leavers from poor backgrounds access training in tertiary institutions.
Head of KCB Foundation Caroline Wanjeri said that the 2jiajiri programme would also provide tools to 22 of this year’s graduates drawn from various technical fields.
The courses which the beneficiaries undertook included plumbing, electrical installation, masonry, carpentry and hospitality industry courses.
Wanjeri said since the inception of the programme in the year 2016, it has created 64,186 direct jobs and over 385,000 indirect jobs.
“We encourage the youth to embrace technical training to spur economic growth and fight unemployment in communities,” Wanjeri said during a press briefing Monday.
Beryl Achieng Adenyo was among the beneficiaries of the KCB foundation 2jiajiri program.
She had been jobless for nine years since leaving school and failing to attain points for direct entry into university.
Achieng sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2013 at Obisa Mixed Secondary school in Oyugis, Kasipul constituency.
Since then, she been doing casual jobs like cleaning utensils for a catering services business where she earned meagre wages while the engagement was occasional.
She is a partial orphan and her mother’s earnings from peasant farming was inadequate to pay her fees in any training institution.
But her opportune time came in 2022 when she successfully applied for the KCB Foundation 2Jiajiri scholarship programme to undertake Electrical Installation and Electronic Engineering course.
“Most of my training was practical. I’m a graduate who has experience and ready for the job market since I have been provided toolkits to do the work,” she said.
Last week, the Director of Technical Education Tom Mulati said the government has ensured technical institutions offer programmes that equip trainees with relevant skills and competencies that meet the demands of the labour markets.
“Providing technical courses is the best reward for youths because it offers them exemplary service in the industry and humanity,” he said.
Mulati who spoke during a graduation ceremony in Mawego Technical Institute said that the tertiary institutions graduates should be supported at the exit level so that they are able to enter into self and gainful employment.
By Davis Langat
