By Hilton Mwabili
The government is concerned by the growing failures in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) examinations across institutions and has warned that students will not be allocated capitation in future.
Acting Director of Technical Education at the Ministry of Education Tom Mulati noted that Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) results have often indicated that over 30 per cent of students who sit for the exams fail.
“A real worry to the TVET is that we could be allocating capitation to students who are failing exams. If a student has failed exams and you allocated them capitation, that is misappropriation of funds,” Mulati said.
He however said the installation of the TVET Management Information System (MIS) will go a long way to help in terms of apportioning our fundability requirements warning the institution managers that they will be held responsible for allocating the funds to ‘failures’
“If you look at the KNEC results there are a lot of failures. Over 30 per cent fail, but when you look at capitation the numbers keep increasing and we ask ourselves why,” Mulati posed.
The Ministry of Education data indicates that a total of Sh10.3 billion government grants and Sh11.1 billion HELB loans have been allocated to TVET trainees since 2019.
The above according to the ministry has resulted in an increase in enrolment from 55,945 in 2013 to 249,316 in 2021.
The director was addressing attendants during the just concluded Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (KATTI) Annual Delegates Meeting for principals, deputy principals and directors at Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort in Mombasa where he also advised the delegates to be wary of the relevance of the skills they offer at the institutions.
While noting that there has been a remarkable growth and subsequent demand of TVET institutions in recent years, he said the growth must be guarded to shield the institutions against the looming threat of sinking in the sea of irrelevance.
“The number of TVET institutions is growing and this growth needs to be guarded .We all know where we have come from. We used to be less than 41 institutions but now we are more than 192. If this growth is not guarded, then we will end up with challenges of lack of relevance,” the delegates in attendance were cautioned.
According to the Ministry, the government has increased the number of TVET institutions from 52 in 2013 to 238 in 2021 at a cost of 10.6 billion.
Out of the 238 TVET institutions 192 are operational and 46 are nearing completion.
According to Mulati, as the country relishes the rise of TVETs by leaps and bounds, it is important to monitor the relevance of skills being offered in some of the institutions.
He was especially concerned that some of the courses currently being offered in the institutions are irrelevant not only to the students but also to the country which has aligned the TVETs to vision 2030 and the big four agenda.
“The focus should be on the curriculum. For instance, why should a course like business administration be offered in a TVET institution instead of e-commerce? Or why should a student pursue a Diploma in Library and Information Science in today’s era of digital world? Instead Diploma In Digital Library and Data Management (PGDDLDM) should be the area of focus right now,” pointed out the director.
According to Mulati, the industry demands practical oriented training and it is therefore important for Tvet institutions to expose their trainees to the right set of skills.
“We are in a situation where everybody is saying that there are no jobs and we want to join the chorus? That should not be the case,” he said.
