Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani has urged local youth to embrace vocational training and skills acquisition in order to be self-sufficient and curb unemployment.
Governor Achani says the devolved government is committed to equip the local youths with sustainable life skills across the coastal county.
The coastal county boss says her administration has placed a high premium on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centers by putting the sector at the forefront of her agenda.
She stressed on the need for local youths to embrace vocational training and acquire skills to be independent and contribute positively to the local economy.
Achani says the devolved unit is determined to improve the capacity of the local youths to be prepared and equipped for a productive and fulfilling lives.
She challenged the youth to embrace vocational skills and desist from over-reliance on the non-available white-collar jobs.
Achani was speaking when she officially launched a model Polytechnic in Kingwende area of Ramisi ward, Msambweni sub county.
She says the new polytechnic will offer a wide variety of programs covering fields such as engineering, carpentry, welding, masonry, refrigeration and air conditioning, beauty therapy, tailoring and dressmaking among other practical skills.
Governor Achani says since the inception of devolution in 2013 the county government of Kwale has built 43 ultra-modern vocational training centres equipped with modern training facilities and operationalized 41 of them.
Achani revealed that the current enrollment is 4193 students scattered across 41 TVETs with about 132 skills instructors.
The Governor says improved access to vocational education and training is key to economic development and has the capacity to add impetus to youth empowerment goals.
She urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the skills acquired during the training in order to positively impact other unemployed youths in the region.
She says the main objective of putting up the TVET centres is to enhance livelihood opportunities for young people by unlocking opportunities through vocational training.
Achani says the county is upgrading and revamping local TVETs at a cost of Sh. 10 million to centres of excellence, recruiting additional skills instructors and also linking graduates with potential employers.
She also says the county will issue a further Sh 10 million grants in the 2023/2024 financial year for all the students who will joining vocational training centers as part of the initiative to encourage the youths to pursue technical courses that will enable them to be self employed.
Achani, who was accompanied by the County Executive for Finance and Economic Planning Bakari Sebe, said the grants are in the form of school fees support paid directly to the continuing students at local TVET centres.
“I urge parents to encourage youths to enroll in the vocational training centres and polytechnics that we have built so as to acquire skills that align with the labour market,” she said.
She added “we are determined to equip and empower the local youths with skills in the field of technical and vocational education and training to help them live dignified lives,”.
Achani insisted that the county and the national governments alone cannot provide the teeming youths with the needed white-collar jobs.
She says the county will continue to properly equip the TVET centres to provide learners with the requisite modern skills needed to make a decent living.
By Hussein Abdullahi
