The national government through the ministry of education is set to establish a national polytechnic in every County.
Speaking during the second graduation ceremony at Mukiria Technical Training Institute in Meru County, Deputy Director of TVET Mr John Tuwei who read the speech on behalf of Principal Secretary Dr Margaret Mwakima said plans were also underway to come up with Technical and Vocational Colleges (TVC) in every sub-county and a Vocation Training Centre in every ward.
She said the institutions will also be built to be Centres of Excellence in one or two trade areas to promote specialization among students.
“The government has already established 26 Centres of Excellence in TVET institutions while prioritizing skills required in regions where the institutions are located,” said Dr Mwakima adding that 12 TVET institutions had also been given support with value addition equipment to be incorporated in training with production.
She said the move was aimed at expanding and modernising technical and vocational institutions to improve access, equity and quality in training and impact skills mainly to the Kenyan youth.
“This idea came with the realisation and appreciation of the contribution of the service industry in fostering social-economic growth of the country,” she said.
She added that technical skills and innovations are critical to the future of Kenya and the achievement of vision 2030 as well as sustainable development goals.
The government, she added, has invested more than Sh100 billion in 10 years to reform the TVET subsector and which has seen the institutions grow from 55,000 in 2013 to the current 288,000.
She, however, said it was unfortunate that the majority of the public perceive TVET as unattractive and meant for learners who failed to join the university, a narrative that needs to be changed.
To change this, she added, there was the need to brand and rebrand TVETs through appropriate strategies which include the institutions’ skills competitions, robotics, manufacture of products and parts, fairs, music and drama as well as cultural festivals.
In this regard, she added, the state department was in the process of establishing a TVET institute of performing arts and sciences as well as sports academies in different corners of the country.
“It is gratifying to know that Mukiria Technical offers diverse academic programmes which give students a wide choice,” she said.
She urged the institution’s management to implement more programmes and work closely with the relevant industries to fulfil the government’s goals in offering real solutions to industry and society.
The institute’s principal Mrs Caroline Muguna said she was proud of the rate at which the institution was growing and also recognised the efforts put by its management and staff who supported the graduands acquire their dreams.
“The institute which is barely eight years old has also been mapped as a centre of excellence by Young Africa Works in setting out competence Based Education Technology Training in the area of Building and Construction course,” said Mrs Muguna.
A total of 846 learners including 520 females and 326 males graduated during the ceremony.
