The Ministry of Education is poised to establish a framework to nurture appropriate skills in youth.
Education CS Amina Mohamed said the ministry was seeking a cohesive and comprehensive skills development framework to give children entering formal education and training institutions employable skills.
She made the remarks during a breakfast meeting with development partners group on post-training and skills development held at a Nairobi Hotel on Friday.
She was flanked by the Principal Secretary for Post Training and Skills Development, Zeinab Hussein, and her counterpart in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Kevit Desai, and development partners.
“Our aim is to guarantee a seamless transition from Learning to Earning.”
Hussein expressed concern that Kenya had more managers than technologists, technicians, and artisans, saying a functioning economy needed to have more workers than managers.
United Nations Resident Coordinator, and the UNDP Resident Representative to Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee, underscored the need for Africa and Kenya, in particular, to make investments in the youth.
He said the over 30,000 youth were looking for jobs every hour yet the economies of the country could only absorb so few.
He challenged policymakers to help restore the dignity of labour, saying plumbers, and welders should not be made to see their work as inferior to doctors and engineers.
Read:
He, however, said Kenya should ensure they improved the ease of doing business from position 80 in 2017 to the top 20 to attract investments.
He noted that Kenya agricultural potential was still very high and had the capacity to provide jobs for youth if given the appropriate skills and infrastructure.
The ambassador for the Federal Republic of Germany, Jutta Frasch said that success of manufacturing, universal healthcare, affordable housing and food security, codenamed the Big Four depended on the skilled citizenry.
“Without education and skills, the Big 4, Vision 2030 cannot work,” Frasch, who is also the Head of Mission Development Partners Group observed.
She said it was important that Kenya determine the status of skills at its disposal, and give more priority to vocational training.
Present included UNICEF Kenya, Representative, Werner Schultink, UNESCO Regional Director-General, Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, and representatives of Japanese, Finish, and Spanish embassies in Kenya.
Also read;