By Robert Nyagah
The government and other stakeholders have been challenged to facilitate introduction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the syllabuses of village vocational training institutions to align acquired skills with modern technological challenges.
Kenyatta University education scholar and expert Dr Ibuathu Charles Njati, who carried out a research on the instructional needs and their use in Isiolo, Meru, Embu and Machakos counties, found the teaching and later utilization of skills from the studied village polytechnics as too manual.
Njati says that with most far-reaching restructuring in the 21st century having been mostly in the field of technology, where technology has revolutionized the world in many ways such as communication, education and health, it is clear that no society can afford to ignore the dynamic impact brought about by such changes.
In Kenya, the changes so far made in computerization of learning and work in the technical world, Njati argues, demands a corresponding advancement in the area of technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Although in the recent past the government and the private sector have advanced campaigns for adoption of computerized technical courses and corresponding skills as the way forward, historical drawbacks still exist.
That becomes evident through retention of past education systems which continue to be blamed for causing unemployment and contributing towards inadequate manpower needs through the offer of too much academic- based education.
According to Njati, while it is accepted that education remains the key to effective development strategies, TVET must be the master key that can alleviate poverty, promote peace, conserve the environment, improve the quality of life for all and help achieve some sustainable development.
He defended instructional manuals in most technical institutions as being oriented towards the world of work and the emphasis of the curriculum on the acquisition of employability skills.
High incidents of unemployment among graduates, Njati says, could be blamed on the absence of entrepreneurial training in the school curriculum, an issue being presently battled by experts in the government of Kenya.
He insisted that youth polytechnics and other related institutions still have the potential to expand and diversify their capacities in developing macro- income generating units (IGUs) related to society, economy and environment.
Huge percentages, he learned, continued to do masonry work because of readily available construction opportunities in schools, churches, people’s homes, estates, bridges, and dispensaries among others in both urban and rural areas.
Interestingly, it emerged from the research that 91.8 per cent of the trainees joined tailoring to seize opportunities in the clothing industry since people like fashionable clothes despite the challenges posed by prevalence of “mitumba” clothes in local markets.
Most of the sampled village institutions were found to follow Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) training guidelines instead of National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), which is more elaborate.
The study found out that most youth polytechnics were in dire need of workshops and modern tools and equipment to facilitate the instructors and trainees to carry out desired practical work in workshops.
Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that ICT and computerization of instruction and production machineries should be made part of trades content taught at the institutions while each county should launch a village polytechnic in each Ward.
Most youth polytechnic operated independent of host communities and as a result lagged behind vocational market needs due to operating in isolation. It was suggested they incorporate community interests in their operations.
Communities’ negative attitude towards vocational training and lack of clear government policy were the main barriers against vocational training, as young people continued to be attracted to office jobs as opposed to manual work.
Most syllabi lacked the ICT component yet this went against the reality in the labour market where automated machines and tools require ICT knowledge.
Instructors, it emerged, also faced major drawbacks in updating to modern technology.
“While instructors were willing to upgrade their skills, poor pay and affordability to pay for their training besides household expenses were the core factors hindering them from joining institutional-based programmes,” the report says.
Although workplace experiences remained important, the research noted that most institutions left trainees to seek workplace experiences by themselves because they lacked elaborate systems of ensuring their trainees attended workplaces in their locality and in some industries.
