Kenya is revamping the Technical, Vocation Education and Training system with the aim of making it meet the growing industrial and labour market needs of the country, Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu has said.
Mr Machogu noted that TVET is a powerful tool to prepare the youth for the labour market and provide lifelong learning opportunities to adults, hence the need to provide strong training space for young people.
The Cabinet Secretary was speaking during 6th Conference on The Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) at a Nairobi hotel.
Present during the panel discussion included Chair of PASET Governing Council and Minister of State for Education, Rwanda, Claudette Irere.
The forum attracted the academia, industry and governments across Africa for the last two days, to discuss the future of skills, education and entrepreneurship in the continent under the theme of the conference is “Leveraging Technical, Vocational and Technical Training (TVET) in the knowledge and skills ecosystem for Africa’s industrialisation”.
Mr Machogu said the 100 percent Transition to Secondary School, capitation for students who enroll in TVET institutions, rebranding of TVET and support for Special Needs TVETs had led to massive enrollment of students into TVET system.
He said the support of the government for TVET and the interest by students had outstripped the capacity of the current infrastructure, equipment and support facilities to meet the training needs of the students.
He said current enrollment into TVET institutions was 389,962 students against 7,133 Trainers.
Mr Machogu said the enrolment has outstripped the recommended ratio between trainers and trainee of 1:20 with the current trainer versus trainee ratio of being 1:55.
“The government has recruited 2,000 trainers as part of the continuous Recruitment of trainers to address the imbalance,” said Mr Machogu.
He said the government was reviewing the legal framework of the TVET system to streamline the management of technical trainers and to harmonise their schemes of service.
African Development Bank (AfDB) Education, Human Capital, and Skills Development Division Manager Hendrina Doroba said African governments should give top priority to the development of Technical Vocational education and Training institutions in their respective countries.
She said the countries should set their own agenda on development and ask development partners to support them.
“The governments should be firm in determining the direction of their socioeconomic development,” said Mrs Doroba.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
