Over 3,000 students from needy backgrounds in Uasin Gishu County have been sponsored to gain skills for self-employment through technical and vocational training institutions, since the introduction of the education revolving fund by the county government in 2014.
One such beneficiary is Dominic Korir, an orphan who was sponsored between 2015 and 2018 to study a Diploma course in Automotive Engineering at the Eldoret National Polytechnic and is now earning a living through self-employment.
After successfully completing his training, he opened a welding and fabrication business located at the Eldoret-Moiben junction, where he deals in fabrication of milling machines, steel windows, maize mill choppers, gas welding, steel doors, minor servicing and repairs.
Korir has not only become an entrepreneur, but also an employer, a motivator and a trainer. He has employed three youths who are working in his workshop; he is giving basic training to others and in the process motivating many other youths not to give up in life.
Speaking to KNA at his workshop Saturday, Korir thanked the county administration for initiating the sponsorship program saying it had opened an opportunity for him and other youths to train and earn a living through TVETS.
According to Director Education Revolving Fund, Joel Rutto, there are many success stories of beneficiaries who completed their studies and became resilient by starting their own businesses.
“They are now living up to the dream of the program by making sure youths become job creators and not job seekers,” he said.
“The only appreciation the successful beneficiaries can give to the county is to pay back the loans for other needy students to benefit from the same,” said Rutto.
By Kiptanui Cherono
