Poor ICT training impacting negatively on graduates

By Luke Anami

Lack of a structured training for Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has led to lack of skilled ICT manpower in the country, Labour PS Beatrice Kituyi has said. The PS identified private ICT training institutions as some of the ill equipped centres to offer quality training. This, she observed, affects the skills churned out in the labour market. “From our findings, majority of private institutions offered basic ICT training up to diploma level, while popular courses being computer application at certificate level.”  “Wide disparity was noted in duration of courses with course duration for diploma varying from a few weeks to one year, while most diploma courses were examined externally,” She added.

She noted that in some instances, ICT instructors did not have any formal ICT training, which has resulted on poor ICT training in private institutions yet technology is a major pillar in Vision 2030. “In a few cases, instructors were training students for a level higher than their own qualification. The findings indicate that the ICT training is poor and it this has led to poor skills on the market,” Kituyi explained.

 “Following the “Assessment of ICT training in Private Institution” which sampled more than 200 institutions, the ministry recommends urgent need for standardisation of ICT related training in terms of registration, accreditation, curriculum, examination and certification.” Further, ICT training should be made compulsory from lower school levels and explore ways of making ICT training affordable to boost ICT in line with its prominent role in development efforts.

“A prevalent constraint for ICT training is the high cost of ICT training inputs and unregulated training. The ministry recommends in-service programs to upgrade instructor skills to increase their efficiency in delivery of training and update their knowledge regularly,” Kituyi who has served as the ministry of Labour for five years explained.