Is government doing enough to help the youth?

The world is changing, where our young people do not only need resources and knowledge but also technical skills enhancement. We need less theoretical graduates and more skilled people for the nation to industrialise.

Since coming into power, the Jubilee administration has been working on increasing the number of skilled youths to take up the roles of transforming the country. The Government formulated the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Act 2013, as an appropriate legal framework to underpin technical and vocational training.

This led to establishment of the Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority that put in place standards and quality assurance in middle level education and training. Today, there are some 60 Technical and Vocational Colleges with an additional 70 under construction.

In the 2017/18 budget, the Treasury has allocated Sh6 billion for technical, vocational education and training to support growth of technical institutions.

We need to go back to the days when polytechnics were not looked down upon and produced some of the better skilled artisans than most of the universities. This is why the government has been working hard to revamp the technical training institutes.

Mr Waikenda is Kiambu County Executive in charge of youth and sports