Kenya bets on dual training curriculum at workplace to fix skills gap

From left: Jane Kamau, Mirko Giulietti, Shadrack Mwadime, Sharon Mosin, Stella Nerbano, and Anirban Bhowmik, during the launch of a private sector-led dual training curriculum. [Courtesy]

Kenya has launched a training curriculum that places young people in workplaces for 75 per cent of their learning, upending the traditional classroom model.

The private sector-led curriculum, developed in collaboration with the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), was unveiled on Thursday at the Inaugural Youth Skills Development Forum in Nairobi, a two-day gathering of government officials, industry players and training institutions.

Principal Secretary in the State Department for Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime, officiated the launch, with his Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) counterpart Dr Esther Muoria, endorsing the training.

The model, adapted from Switzerland's dual training system by non-profit organisation Swisscontact, embeds employers directly into the training process, requiring apprentices to spend 75 per cent of their time in structured workplace settings and only 25 per cent in classrooms.

"The construction sector alone is valued at over Sh2 trillion, yet Kenya has only 2,000 certified plumbers, masons and painters compared to 5,000 engineers, more people to draw the plans than to build," the forum heard.

That skills gap sits against a backdrop of nearly one million young Kenyans entering the labour market each year, with youth aged 15 to 34 making up 35 per cent of the population.

At the same time, 55 per cent of informal sector firms report difficulty finding skilled workers, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Swiss Ambassador to Kenya Mirko Giulietti and Swisscontact Country Director Sharon Mosin noted that a pilot of the model, run through Don Bosco Boys Town Technical Institute since 2022, has already pushed employability rates among graduates to approximately 80 per cent.

The curriculum was built in partnership with more than 60 private sector companies, which co-developed course content and paid apprentices stipends during their placements.

Muoria, Giulietti and Mosin also launched Phase Two of PropelA, Swisscontact's youth skills project in Kenya, at the same event.

The forum runs through Friday, March 6.