Meru National Polytechnic to benefit from Sh1.8b World Bank project

Some of 2,903 students who graduated from Meru National Polytechnic this year. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

The Meru National Polytechnic will benefit from a Sh1.8 billion project to develop its technical training facilities, State Department for Vocational and Technical Training Principal Secretary Margaret Mwakima said yesterday.

Dr Mwakima said the institution in North Imenti sub-County was set to benefit from the East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), funded by the World Bank.

"The government has invested through the EASTRIP project which is a WB loan to a tune of Sh1.8b and this will go towards the development of Meru National Polytechnic as a regional centre of excellence for building technology and civil engineering," the PS said during the institution's fourth graduation ceremony.

The technical skills empowerment project will see the building of new infrastructure.

Among the facilities to be in the new complex are workshops, lecture halls, technical drawing rooms, computer laboratories and a library.

An administration block will also be housed in the complex.

Mwakima lauded the council for its infrastructural development facilities, and said its students have continued to perform well at national and continental technology competitions.

"The prowess in technology and innovation embraced by this institution was manifest in excellent performance during the national robotics competition.

"In four consecutive years, 2014 to 2019, the polytechnic emerged top. This institution also scooped position one in two out of six seasons in Africa Tech Challenge,” Mwakima said.

HELB chief executive Charles Ringera revealed that the Meru Polytechnic was one of the leading institutions in the uptake of the facility, with the students borrowing up to Sh80 million last year.