By Peter Otuoro
Majority of Kenyan youth graduating from TVET institutions around the country have no skills to do work related to their areas of expertise, Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) Principal Secretary (PS) Esther Muoria has said.
The alarming remarks were made at Nyandarua National Polytechnic during the closing ceremony of an inaugural three-day International Research Conference held at the institution.
The PS said the country should be worried about the kind of graduates the TVET institutions are producing.
“We are worried as a state department of TVET about the kind of TVET graduates we are producing because the majority of them cannot showcase their skill in the practical field,” said Muoria.
The revelations come at a time the government is directing huge amounts of resources to expanding and consolidating TVETs in the country. Recently, it announced its intention to establish more of these institutions in constituencies that have none.
Muoria vowed to revolutionize the TVET curriculum to ensure only qualified and skilled trainees receive their academic certificates, meaning only those who make the cut will be allowed to graduate.
“We will have a serious meeting with the KATTI principals in all TVET institutions to see how we can rescue and restore the lost glory of TVET syllabus by ensuring that only skilled and qualified trainees are allowed to graduate while unskilled trainees are re-tooled. This will ensure they only graduate when they are well equipped and are ready for the competitive job market,” said Muoria.
She said the State department will align its academic syllabus to its curriculum and ensure that all TVET trainees receive practical skills.
“Our TVET academic policy will require trainees to take most of the time in industry, which will consist of 70 per cent of their total period of study, while only 30 per cent will be spent in class,” she said.
Muoria said she had identified hundreds of job opportunities both locally and abroad in the short period she has been at the helm of TVET, yet our sector graduates cannot fit in as they cannot do a good job.
The PS said she will establish an industrial liaison office in the department’s headquarters whose main role will be to connect all TVET institutions with industry in the 47 counties, in addition to the major cities that are home to many industries.
She, nevertheless, praised the many inventions that have come up within these vocational colleges, challenging KATTI principals to legally protect the ownership of these products to make them profitable ventures.
Muoria also urged the KATTI principals to liaise with industries for mass production of invented products, which will generate billions of shillings as a way of creating employment for millions of youth.
“We can take the electric motorbike that was done by trainees at Nyandarua National Polytechnic as a prototype and produce it in large numbers. The country will generate millions in revenue and create jobs for millions of people,” said the PS.
She congratulated Nyandarua and Kabete national polytechnics, among other TVET Institutions, for being ahead in innovation and invention, further encouraging the KATTI principals to create a friendly environment where creativity can thrive.
She, in the same vein, challenged them to be more creative in initiating income generating activities by using the available resources like land to produce food both for consumption and sale.
“In the modern world, the KATTI principal should be innovative and generate their own income to run the TVET Institutions because the government does not have adequate funds to cover every need in TVETs. The little that we can offer should be supported by the funds from institutions’ income generating activities,” said Muoria.
