By Our Reporter
Kenya and Hungarian governments will jointly mount an internationally recognized training course in Welding & Fabrication Technology in a local Technical Training Institute (TTI).
Under the joint initiative, Hungary will send experts with extensive knowledge in welding and fabrication engineering to Kenya to train students based on a specially designed syllabus on Welding & Fabrication Technology. On its part, Kenya will provide the training equipment and other support systems to the programme.
The commitment was made when the Hungarian Ambassador to Kenya, His Excellency Zsolt Meszaros paid a courtesy call on the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Mr. Ezekiel Machogu in his office on Wednesday.
Present were the Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang, and the Principal Secretary for the State Departments of University Education & Research, Dr. Beatrice Inyangala and the Principal Secretary for Vocational and Technical Training, Dr. Esther Muoria.
Mr. Machogu thanked the Hungarian government for offering to train Kenyans in welding and fabrication technology, saying it will be an additional benefit to the scholarships scheme Hungary has been giving Kenya since 2019.
Machogu said Hungary has given opportunities to Kenyan students under the scholarship programme to Kenya thereby enabling Kenyans to undertake highly skilled study programmes in Hungary.
Ambassador Meszaros said welders from Kenya and other countries could easily feed the job market for welders in the European Union. He, however, said that the welders lacked the required standards of skills, under the International Institute of Welding (IIW) to access the Job Market in Welding and fabrication technology in the European Union.
He said IIW is an international scientific and engineering body that sets standards for welding, brazing and related technologies.
He said his government could give training and certification standards to Kenyans that meet the IIW, noting that they can then secure high paying jobs in in European Union and other countries.
At the same time, Mr. Machogu thanked the Hungarian Government for establishing a Cancer Management centre at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology.
The Cabinet Secretary expressed the need to establish a structure that will connect students to industry relevant to the skills they studied upon return from studies abroad.
Ambassador Meszaro had earlier noted that although returning students had skills useful to the economy, they took time to secure productive employment.
“Although highly skilled, returning Kenyans are not good at selling themselves as most of them come from humble backgrounds,” he observed.
Some 500 students have benefited or continue to benefit from the Hungarian Scholarship programme since 2019. An additional 200 students are expected to be awarded the scholarship and proceed for the studies.
For the Undergraduate scholarship programme, the studies are in the fields of Agricultural Science, Computer Science and Information Technology, Legal Science, Economic Science, Engineering Science, Medical and Health Sciences.
Masters Studies in the fields of Agricultural Science, Computer science, and Information Technology, Legal Science, Medical and Health Sciences, Doctoral (PhD) Studies in any field of interest.
One Tier Masters (OTM) studies in fields of General Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacology, architecture and veterinary medicine. One Tier Masters covers both bachelors and the Masters levels.
