Garissa youths have been urged to enrol for technical courses because there's ready job market.
Aga Khan Foundation monitoring and evaluation officer Deo Ochieng said the number of youth joining the technical institutes was low.
He said it's unfortunate many youths are shying away from technical courses, which he said are marketable.
“Our people still have that mentality that technical courses are not so cool and they cannot get jobs as fast as going for courses in colleges. One thing they forget is that the opposite is correct,” said Ochieng.
Speaking at the Garissa Vocational Training Centre after donating equipment worth Sh6.5 million, Ochieng said many NGOs assist technical colleges but few help vocational institutions.
“Parents and leaders need to talk to the youth and their children and tell them that life is not all about getting a white collar job,” he said.
Garissa leaders including Governor Ali Korane and Garissa Township MP Aden Duale have on several occasions urged the youth to make good use of the opportunities in the technical colleges.
Korane said the county still faced acute shortage of manpower something he said had led to them sourcing from outside.
Ochieng said as an organisation, they would continue equipping the institutes, noting that a similar programme with similar funding has been ongoing in Lamu and Mandera counties.
He said the project is aimed at making sure youth get enough skills for self-reliance and diverting them from engaging in criminal activities.
