Kenyan team leaves for WorldSkills Competition in Namibia

The first group of the Kenyan team for the WorldSkills Africa Competition to be held in Namibia leaves today ahead of the four-day competition starting Tuesday.

TVET Authority Director-General and CEO of WorldSkills Kenya (WSK) Dr Kipkirui Langat will lead the team. The inaugural WorldSkills Africa event was hosted by Rwanda in 2018.

The students have been trained by experts from WorldSkills Germany, who are currently mentoring Kenya in 10 out of the 16 skills the country has selected to enter in future competitions. There are over 80 skill areas a country can pick and compete in.

Kenya is at an advanced stage to ink a deal with WorldSkills UK for mentorship. More than 100 competitors from 11 African countries compete in 16 technical and vocational trade areas. The event includes an international conference and a careers exhibition. The second batch of four competitors and technical officials leaves on Friday.

Kenya will be represented by four students. They include Joseph Kiarie (cooking) and Shradha Shah (Restaurant Services), both from Boma International Hospitality College. The others are Victoria Wambui and Maxwell Magoi who will compete in the Mechatronics skills area.

Dr Langat said: “We are joining the international community in an event that promotes skills development."