The quality of trainers is the most salient factor affecting the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in generating workers with qualified knowledge and skills.
Training staff is crucial in assuring quality and relevance, hence policies and frameworks should be developed to ensure qualified and high-quality staff, including instructors and trainers.
It is important for trainers to have the right set of competencies and the right work environment when delivering TVET-oriented programs so that trainees are provided with the right set of knowledge, skills, and attitude required by the industry.
Apparently, many countries with successful TVET systems have strong policy frameworks governing the training and development of trainers.
Although Kenya has a fairly comprehensive policy and legal framework that supports the preparation of trainers both at university and other tertiary institutions, the implementation of the same has been a challenge.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) has developed a Trainer’s Qualification and the Competence Standards Framework (TQCSF) to guide the training and development of trainers.
In addition to meeting initial requirements for registration and licensing, trainers shall be required to renew their training license periodically with evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) as required by law.
However, registration and licensing of trainers in Kenya is still at a slow pace as the majority of those who are yet to register do not meet the requirements as per the TQCSF and the TVET Act of 2013.
Many of those affected are in private institutions and vocational training centers where the trainers either do not have minimum qualifications or lack pedagogy.
There is no doubt that this will not only affect the quality of training delivery but also the quality of the workforce and must be addressed urgently.
The establishment of Kenya School of TVET is therefore very important in actualizing reforms relating to the development of high-quality trainers.
These include the implementation of TVET pedagogy and andragogy by establishing a real industry working environment through collaboration and utilizing the workplace as a learning venue.
By Thuita Jaswant
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