• Concern has been raised that the number of Embu youth who are enrolling in Technical and Vocational Centers is disappointing
• British colonisation, whose education system prioritised white-collar jobs, blamed
A Chinese organisation has promised to team up with the Embu County government in encouraging school leavers to join technical and vocational centres.
Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress vice-chairman Wei Guoqiang said that technically skilled persons in China are better paid than those doing white collar jobs. Students are more inclined to getting technical skills than professional knowledge.
Wei was responding to complaints by Embu Education executive Joan Mwende that the local technical and vocational centres had a low number of trainees.
Mwende, who had hosted the Jiangsu Provincial Peoples' Congress members, said “despite the fact that the government is seriously focussing on ensuring more people obtain technical skills for the future development of our nation, and investing in technical and vocational centres' construction and equipping them, local secondary school leavers are still not joining them.”
She said this was causing an acute shortage of technically skilled manpower.
The Jiangsu Provincial Peoples' Congress and Kenyan counties have an MoU dating back to 2017.
Mwende said 57.3 per cent of the county’s total population of 532,221, has reached the working age of 18 years. A total of 11, 776 are ex-secondary school learning and were doing nothing since they have no professional and technical skills.
She said only 1,706 are enrolled in local TVET centres. This portends a worrying a future for the county.
The executive blamed the state of affairs on the British colonial system, which emphasised white collar jobs for natives. Embu is yet to come out of that web even as the government pushes for technical skills through free sponsorship.
Also present was speaker Josiah Thiriku who said the county assembly and the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress have an MoU through which they explore how people can engage in businesses and assist Embu TVETs in capacity building.
Wei said Jiangsu province leads in China in terms of education and manufacturing. The province alone has over 100 vocational training centres.
He said they will help Embu to ensure that Embu youths join vocational centres.