By Michael Oduor
Taita Taveta University on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dongying Vocational Institute of China. This was towards the launching of Luban Workshop and China-Kenya Vocational and Technical Education Centre in Taita Taveta University.
Speaking in a meeting held in Taita Taveta University, Taita Taveta University Vice chancellor Prof. Fred Simiyu Barasa termed the day as historical as the University has launched the construction of the well-equipped, modern centre for spearheading of teaching, research, innovation, technology exchange and cultural exchange.
“We are also going to set up a center within Dongying Vocational Institute in China and Taita Taveta University will be responsible for that centre that will be coordinating the training of teachers and lectures from Kenya in petroleum and gas engineering as well as expanding our collaboration in areas of research,” said Prof. Fred.
It was also stated that in the next few months, the construction of the institute will be launched and upon completion, will serve a much wider region including the foreign countries for courses in certificates, diploma, degrees, masters and PhDs.
The Permanent Secretary (PS), State Department for University Education and Research, Ministry of Education Ambassador Simon Nabukwesi applauded Taita Taveta University for partnering with the Dongying Vocational Institute in China which has led to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
He also called upon Universities in Kenya to embrace partnerships with foreign universities and colleges in a bid to enhance institutional development in terms of infrastructure, equipment, research and exchange of ideas and skills for sustainable development of the country.
“This centre will serve a much wider region, not just Kenya. This is in the spirit of internationalizing our universities so that they can attract those who are interested to come and study in Kenya as Kenyans will also interact with others in other countries and acquire extra skills in their field of study,” said Nabukwesi.
He noted that East and Central Africa lacks expertise with skills and knowledge of petroleum and gas engineering adding that the project initiated in Taita Taveta University will be an advantage to the campus as it will attract people from other countries who will be interested in gaining the knowledge.
According to the TTU Vice chancellor, the curriculum on oil and gas has been developed by their professors.
He stated that four lecturers have already been trained on petroleum and gas engineering and that the launching of the program will be initiated following the support by the Chinese collaboration that will ensure the equipment needed are provided to enable training of more experts in the field of petroleum and gas engineering.
Nabukwesi reiterated that water resources in most African countries have not been fully exploited following the limited skills and knowledge needed in the utilization of the blue economy.
This led to the establishment of the ministry that handles the blue economy within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Blue Economy as an additional aspect that will encourage sustainable economic development through exploration and exploitation of the water bodies.
In her part, Taita Taveta County Deputy Governor Majala Mlagui who attended the ceremony virtually, congratulated Dongying Vocational Institute of China for their partnership with Taita Taveta University and promised to support vocational training institutions in a bid to ensure youths across the County acquire skills that will enable them secure job opportunities and even creating jobs and be self-employed.
She urged the China government to extend its collaboration with Kenya beyond the vocational training institutions to other education sectors so that development can be realized in all educational institutions.
Also, attending the meeting virtually was Ambassador of Kenya to China H.E. Sarah Serem who took the opportunity to applaud the two countries for their mutual understanding which she said has seen over 2000 students from Kenya having gone through the Universities in China through the China scholarships.
“We are currently having a number of students that are benefiting from Chinese scholarships. We have over 2000 Kenyan students who have studied in China under the Chinese scholarships,” said Serem.
She added that education and capacity building is the greatest investment that a country can give to its people, a sure way to a strong labour force for future and sustainable national development.
“Partnership between Kenya and China brings together education and industry where relevant skills are applied in a skill that directly addresses the challenges of unemployment in developing countries,” she said.
