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Kenya is revamping the Technical, Vocation Education and Training (TVET) system to meet the growing industrial and labour market needs of the country.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has said that TVET is a powerful tool to prepare the youth for the labour market and provide lifelong learning opportunities to adults.
He said these factors make it necessary to provide strong training space for young people.
Machogu was speaking on Thursday during the closure of the 6th Conference on The Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) at a Nairobi hotel.
Present during the panel discussion included the chair of the PASET Governing Council and Minister of State for Education, Rwanda, Claudette Irere.
The forum was opened by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on behalf of President William Ruto.
The forum attracted the academia, industry and governments across Africa to discuss the future of skills, education and entrepreneurship in the continent.
The meeting was held under the theme ‘Leveraging Technical, Vocational and Technical Training (TVET) in the knowledge and skills ecosystem for Africa’s industrialization.’
Machogu attributed the 100 per cent transition to secondary school, capitation for students who enrol in TVET institutions and rebranding of TVETs as contributing factors to increased enrollment.
Other factors he said include support for Special Needs TVETs.
He said current enrollment into TVET institutions was 389,962 students against 7,133 Trainers.
Machogu said the support of the government for TVET and the interest of students had outstripped the capacity of the current infrastructure, equipment and support facilities to meet the training needs of the students.
Machogu said the enrolment has outstripped the recommended ratio between trainers and trainees of 1:20.
He said we now had a trainer ratio versus trainee ratio of 1:55.
He said the government had recruited 2,000 trainers as part of the continuous Recruitment of trainers to address the imbalance.
He said the government was reviewing the legal framework of the TVET system to streamline the management of technical trainers and to harmonize their schemes of service.
Division Manager for Education, Human Capital, and Skills Development, African Development Bank, (AfDB), Mrs. Hendrina Doroba said African governments should give top priority to the development of Technical Vocational education and Training institutions in their respective countries.
She said the countries should set their own agenda on development and ask development partners to support them.
The governments should be firm in determining the direction of their socioeconomic development.
