Kisumu County Woman Representative Ruth Odinga outlined an ambitious programme aimed at ensuring access to quality education and needs-based training for area youth.
She said that this will equip them with the requisite qualifications and capabilities for the job market or self-employment.
“This is in line with the social pillar of Vision 2030, which envisions a globally competitive and adaptive human resource base to meet the requirements of a rapidly industrializing economy,” she said.
Speaking at Tom Mboya Labour College where she launched her strategic plan, Odinga said her strategy to achieve this goal is through an institutional human capacity development programme.
Odinga said that they are already implementing an exponential boost on access to education and training for the vulnerable by providing ‘needs-based support for learners’ enrolled at Basic, TVET, NITA, Marine, and Farmers Training education institutions.
As a county, she said, they have 21 Vocational Training Centers (VTCs), a Technical Training Institute (RIAT), a Farmers Training College (Maseno FTC), a national industrial training center (NITA), a Marine College, a National Polytechnic and universities where beneficiaries of their education and training empowerment programmes can be enrolled.
She revealed that in 5 years, they target 2,500 beneficiaries at basic education level, 840 trainees at TVET level, 140 trainees through the NITA program, 140 trainees through Kisumu Marine School, and 140 extension officers trained from the Farmers Training College.
“I am alive to the fact that a wide resource base will be necessary to make this dream come true, which is why we have included resource mobilization and collaboration strategies in my strategic plan,” she said.
She noted that an affirmative action programme is incomplete without social protection because social protection is the most important of the services needed by marginalized groups.
“As a representative of the people, I am at the forefront of ensuring legislation, policies and programmes that support vulnerable women, youth and PWDs to manage risk or protect them from poverty and inequality,” Odinga added.
Also present at the function were Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathew Owili, Kisumu West MP Rosa Buyu, Nyando MP Jared Okello, Kisumu Clerk Owen Ojuok among other leaders.
By Fredrick Odiero
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