MPs urge KMTC to align its courses with healthcare job market demands

Members of Parliament have asked the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) to align its training programmes with available and projected healthcare jobs. They warned that students should not spend years paying for medical training only to graduate into unemployment.

The National Assembly's Health Committee made the call during a budget implementation oversight visit to KMTC headquarters in Nairobi on Monday, October 26, 2026. The MPs questioned the value of programmes that do not adequately consider employers' needs, the cost of education and graduates' chances of securing work.

The intervention could influence future course offerings, enrolment priorities and the skills KMTC equips students with. For learners and families investing in medical education, the central concern is whether a certificate or diploma will provide a realistic pathway into employment.

KMTC Chief Executive Officer Kelly Oluoch told the committee that the college would review and reorganise its courses to ensure they remain relevant to Kenya's labour market needs.

The MPs' intervention places a difficult question before KMTC: how can it protect students from pursuing qualifications with limited employment prospects while ensuring that Kenya continues to train enough healthcare professionals to serve its population?

Committee chairperson and Seme MP James Nyikal said KMTC should prioritise programmes that prepare students for employment in the public health sector, a major employer of medical personnel.

Nyikal cautioned against training priorities that overlook employment opportunities. He argued that KMTC should not simply follow the same needs as private institutions when deciding which courses to offer.

Endebess MP Robert Pukose, Ndhiwa MP Martins Owino and Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron supported the call for programmes that improve graduates' employability. Pukose warned that investing in courses without considering the availability of jobs could leave both graduates and the institution disadvantaged.

According to the report on the oversight visit, KMTC offers 126 medical courses across 92 campuses nationwide.

Its diploma programmes include clinical medicine, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy, medical laboratory sciences, radiography and imaging, physiotherapy, nutrition and dietetics, and public health.

Certificate programmes include community health assistance, medical engineering, nutrition and dietetics, public health, health records and information, and emergency medical technician training. The college also offers specialised short courses.

Because of the scale of the institution, the review could have wide implications for medical training across the country, depending on the programmes selected for change.

Aligning training with the job market does not necessarily mean cutting courses simply because immediate vacancies are limited. Some healthcare professions may face recruitment bottlenecks even when hospitals and communities need their services, while other specialisations may need increased training as healthcare demands evolve.

KMTC will therefore need reliable workforce data to establish which professions face shortages, where additional personnel are required and how many graduates employers are likely to absorb in the coming years.

Although the public health sector is a major employer of medical personnel, recruitment depends on approved vacancies, budget allocations, staffing priorities and the availability of qualified applicants. Professional registration and licensing requirements can also determine whether graduates are eligible to practise in their chosen fields.

A course may therefore prepare students for a legitimate profession without guaranteeing that jobs will be available immediately after graduation.

KMTC must distinguish between programmes with weak long-term demand and those whose graduates face temporary delays in recruitment. Without that distinction, a review intended to improve employability could inadvertently undermine training in professions that remain essential to healthcare delivery.

Closer coordination with the Ministry of Health, county governments, professional regulators and private employers could help the college match enrolment and curriculum decisions with projected workforce requirements. Publishing information on graduate employment, recruitment trends and career pathways would also help students understand the opportunities and risks of different courses.

Oluoch said KMTC requires all learners to take an entrepreneurship course intended to equip them with additional skills and help them explore income-generating opportunities.

The training is designed to prepare students to consider self-employment and business development alongside conventional salaried employment. The viability of such ventures depends on market demand, start-up capital, mentorship and access to business networks.

Healthcare is a regulated sector. Graduates cannot independently provide services that require professional registration, licensing or other authorisation simply because they have completed entrepreneurship training. The college will need to assess whether its entrepreneurship programme equips learners with practical business skills.

The report cited International Labour Organisation data indicating that about 2.8 million Kenyans lack employment. That figure should not, however, be read as a direct measure of graduate unemployment without further data separating graduates from other groups.

The debate reflects a wider challenge facing universities, technical and vocational institutions and other colleges: ensuring that qualifications remain relevant to the economy without sacrificing the country's long-term skills needs. Regular graduate tracer studies, employer consultations and reporting on employment outcomes could help institutions identify programmes that need improvement.

KMTC has not announced which programmes may be introduced, expanded, restructured or discontinued. It has also not said that current students will be required to change courses. The implications will depend on the findings of the review and the decisions the college takes afterwards. A transparent review could help applicants make better-informed choices, but its value will depend on whether KMTC communicates the changes clearly.

The review could, however, influence the choices available to future applicants and the number of students admitted to particular programmes. Prospective students may need to pay closer attention to labour-market demand, professional registration requirements, licensing rules and the career pathways linked to different qualifications.

For families financing medical education, the stakes are considerable. Tuition fees, accommodation, transport and learning materials can represent a substantial investment, and prolonged graduate unemployment can leave families struggling to recover the money spent.

Completing a course does not automatically guarantee employment. Prospects can depend on the availability of vacancies, professional qualifications, recruitment budgets, geographical demand and competition from other graduates. Students need reliable information first.