TVET almost doubled this year, says Education CS

The government's push to raise the enrolment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions has borne fruit after the numbers recently rose from 375,000 to 600,000.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said they were carrying out a sensitisation campaign with a multi-agency team, including the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO), to achieve its two million target.

He said the mindset that TVET programmes are for those who failed to secure university places was now changing, with qualified students opting to enrol in TVET institutions to gain technical skills.

He was speaking yesterday during a three-day retreat for principals under the Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (KATTI) from across the country held at the Pride Inn Paradise resort.

It was themed, “Strengthening leadership, governance and innovation for transformative TVET institutions.”

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“When we started the public sensitisation campaign for TVET programmes recently, the student enrolment was 375,000. Currently, it stands at 600,000. It is possible to achieve the two million target,” he said.

The CS noted that the narrative that TVET institutions are for failures was changing because 85 per cent of the students get employed by the institutions where they do their practical training, while others become employers after acquiring technical skills.

“To start with, I am happy to report that our continued reforms and branding of TVET are bearing fruit. For instance, more than 8,000 students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations last year have already opted to pursue courses in TVET and other colleges.

“The number is set to grow as we release the results of the ongoing application of courses under the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS). This, therefore, provides some of the evidence that TVET programmes are finally being embraced by our high school graduates, unlike the case before,” said the CS.

Ogamba announced that Sh8.5 billion has been set aside in the supplementary budget to support the TVET sector.

According to the CS, 5,500 new tutors will also be hired to increase the current 9,800 trainer workforce.

In May this year, TVETs will fully align the current curricula to the modularisation programme, where students will be able to take short courses and opt to work before they can come back for longer ones.

He said the May intake under the new module will get certified in August this year after taking a programme to gain specific skills for the industry.

“Instead of keeping students for the whole year, they can get specific skills and go back to the industry before they return for further training. This will ensure flexibility and accessibility to our TVET institutions and hence raise the enrolment,” he said.

Also present was Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) chairman Ekwe Ethuro. The principals will discuss Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) implementation and assessment, human resource management, communication and etiquette and effective marketing strategies.

Meanwhile, Ogamba noted that the ministry was pushing for a policy where public institutions release their old vehicles to TVET institutions to support training.

“We are pushing for a government policy to ensure that old vehicles lying in the ministries are released to TVET institutions to support training even as they expand their programmes,” he said.

He observed that there were many old vehicles in ministries and even police stations waiting to be turned into scrap metal, while they could be used for training students in TVETs.