The Ministry of Education is in plans to incorporate maritime training in the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos said his Ministry is working to bridge some gaps in the CBC that left out a number of important courses, including training on maritime.
Migos said the government targets Sh500 billion from the Blue Economy and more than 200,0000 job opportunities annually in the sector, thus the need to incorporate training in marine in the curriculum.
He said experts in the Ministry were preparing a curriculum that brings on board all crucial areas of training, and thus it will work together with stakeholders in specific fields in order to ensure that the sectors are well covered.
“We are working to have maritime courses be incorporated in the CBC in order to tap over 200,000 annual job opportunities in the Blue Economy,” said the CS when he addressed learners of The Pioneer School of Murang’a who visited his office on Wednesday.
Kenya’s share of the Blue Economy in the GDP is 2.5 per cent, and the sector contributes an estimated Sh178.8 billion to the economy annually.
“If fully exploited, the sector has the potential to generate revenue approaching Sh500 billion each year, up from the estimated Sh178.8 billion that the Blue Economy contributes to the economy annually,” noted Migos.
The CS noted that Kenya is already in collaboration with various international marine companies, which are employing Kenyans in large numbers.
“We are aiming to train people locally, and when Kenyans get employed outside the country in the maritime sector, there will be no need of re-training them,” said Migos.
The CS emphasised that CBC is skilled-based training, and courses like Marine are part of the training that should be embraced in a bid to generate more in the economy of the country and job creation for Kenyans.
As the government seeks to incorporate marine courses in the CBC, some of the local private schools seem to be ahead, where The Pioneer School in Maragua Sub County has become the first High School in Kenya and the second in Africa to offer maritime courses.
The students from the school who are taking marine courses visited the port of Mombasa last week to gather more knowledge of marine work and opportunities available.
According to UNCTAD’s report titled Trade and Environment Review 2023, the ocean economy is worth between 3 and 6 trillion dollars and offers enormous opportunities for developing countries to build resilience.
Business related to the use of the oceans provides livelihoods for approximately three billion people.
This is seen as a positive move for Kenya in its realisation that 80 per cent of the world trade occurs over the seas, hence the plan to invest in maritime courses.
By Bernard Munyao
