Alice Chelule is among thousands of 2014 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education candidates who scored 200 marks and below.
While those who scored more have been fighting over national schools, Chelule is waiting to join a village polytechnic to learn a trade.
According to Dennis Marube, a curriculum lecturer at the Kenya School of Government in Baringo, youth polytechnics provide a safe avenue for absorbing the thousands who do not join secondary to advance formal education.
“These centres train vocational skills. Students and parents should in no way see them as a place for failures. People should take advantage of these centres now that they are in our counties,” says Marube.
For instance, a candidate who scores 150 marks can learn carpentry or masonry and the knowledge he or she gains can be used to advance up to degree level.
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“Youth polytechnics should not be seen as the end of skills training but as a way to recapture an academic dream which was possibly lost through national examinations,” he says.
In other countries such as Germany, Malaysia and India, young people are encouraged to take up vocational training.
When releasing the KCPE 2014 exam results, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said 22 per cent of the candidates did not get a secondary school place.
Therefore, youth polytechnics play an important role in increasing the transition rate from primary schools by providing opportunities for vocational skills development for Standard Eight leavers, he said.
According to the Education ministry, youth polytechnics enrolled more than 88,000 school leavers. This year, the number is expected to rise by ten per cent.
When the current education system was introduced in 1980s, the Government placed the emphasis on youth polytechnics by constructing centres and equipping them. Parental apathy caused them to be dismissed as being lower in stature.
According to Roselyne Achieng’, a vocational education researcher, the main problem facing polytechnics poor attitude towards vocational education.
“Due to this, parental commitment is in most cases zero. Most don’t see it as a priority to pay fees for a student at a vocational centre. As a result, many learners do not remain in class to acquire skills.’’
