By Malachi Motano
ZOE-Kenya, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in Meru and Tharaka Nithi has challenged counties to devise ways of incorporating orphans and vulnerable children in vocational trainings centres without demanding education certificates.
According to ZOE-Kenya Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Reagan Kaberia, many vulnerable children from the two counties were being locked out of training opportunities due to lack of documents.
“We have many children out there who dropped out of school in lower classes so they can take care of their siblings. Such children have no chances to join these institutions just because they have no certificates though they can do well in trainings,” said Mr Kaberia.
The CEO said vocational institutes offer practical courses and the vulnerable children in these societies can do very well.
“We have been training these children on fields such as salon and beauty, carpentry, masonry, among others and they have been doing very well. However, we do not have enough capacity to incorporate all the vulnerable children out there and this is the reason we are calling on the two county governments to find a way of chipping in,” he said
He added that his organisation will find a way of partnering with the two counties to ensure trainees were handed over to them in order to buy start-up kits or find any other help.
The CEO further said training of such children who come from the localities will be one way of ensuring development in the two devolved units.
ZOE-Kenya which has been operating in the two counties for the last 13 years has managed to empower about 40,000 vulnerable children but to Kaberia, this is a small figure compared to those who are not captured in their programme.
