Kenya will next month send abroad for benchmarking trainers from special needs technical institutions.
Vocational and Technical Training PS Margaret Mwakima said the country is partnering with the Canadian government and a number of institutions in Italy and The Netherlands.
The aim of the visit, she said, is to explore ways of improving on special needs training in Kenya.
Kenya has four special needs TVET institutions.
“This is because we are committed to ensuring there is access and equity in training. The trainers from other TVET institutions have already made such trips,"
Mwakima said the government has invested a lot in early and basic learning on special needs.
She said as a department they are also focused on preparing for special needs 100 per cent transition within TVETs.
Mwakima said this in her speech on Monday when she presided over the third graduation ceremony of the Nyeri National Polytechnic in Nyeri town.
The PS also challenged all national polytechnics to benchmark, collaborate and partner with other top institutions in the world.
This will ensure they offer internationally recognised programmes, relevant to both local and international labour markets.
She emphasised on the need for TVET institutions to ensure courses offered equip trainees with entrepreneurial skills to start their own businesses and create jobs for others.
The PS said there is a need to train a critical mass of technologists, technicians and artisans in TVET institutions so as to achieve aspirations in socio-economic growth in the country.
“Therefore, TVET institutions are expected to design demand driven programmes to be able to bridge identified skill gaps in the diverse fields,” she said.
She said the department is finalising the dual training policy so that the institutions can have a 50–50 training engagement between them and the industry.
The government, she said, has provided ultramodern equipment for most of the institutions and urged them to involve industry players and alumni in the development of the courses offered.
The provision of the modern equipment she said is meant to offer industrial level experience for the trainers, trainees and management that match industry requirements.
She said discussions are ongoing for graduands to be supported not only in tuition training but also to get startup kits upon graduation and linking them to micro-financing to bridge the unemployment gap.
The government has spent a total of over Sh55.4 billion.
They include the Sh10.3 billion capitation and grants, Sh11.1 billion HELB loans to TVET trainees, construction of structures at Sh10.6 billion and equipping of the institutions at Sh20.5 billion
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)
