As Kenya braces for production of more skilled labourforce to meet rising demand, technical training institutions are being equipped on tandem to ensure the labour market has a large pool of qualified workforce to tap into.

Skilled labour is the gist of capacity building workshop at Kakamega’s Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in western Kenya themed: ‘Research and Development in Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA)’ – a collaborative approach that brings together learning institution principals, directors, research coordinators and persons in charge of collaborations and linkages.

The workshop will deliberate and explore ways and means technical institutions can train and certify over 15 million workers in the country.

National Director Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) Meshack Opwora lauded the workshop as important as it is key to the Kenya’s development economically and socially through innovations.

Dr Opwora said that all the TVET institutions should make requisite changes in workplaces to keep abreast of the changes in technology. He said the TVET institutions can improve their programmes through TVET fairs, skills competition and production units.

He noted that for technical training institutions to improved they needed to embrace research, innovations and collaborations.

“There are changes in the work environment and technology is prompting our institutions to align to them fully,” Opwora observed. “We want these changes to be done at a very high standard and that can only be done through research training. That is why we have assembled all the institutions in the country to realise this purpose. The sector is undergoing vigorous reforms aimed at producing more skilled workforce for the nation.”

The director observed that institutions should be ready to conform to the competency-based curriculum training that is outcome- and industry-based.

“This workshop is aimed at training our officers who are in charge of liaising with industries. We want to collaborate with all key stakeholders in rolling out our programmes that include recognition of prior learning aimed at assessing and certifying the jua kali sector so that they are recognised in the job market.”

Opwora stated that the research was key in the innovations and commercialisation of our TVET institutions countrywide to have a production unit to carry out commercialisation of the innovations. This will help them generate their own source of revenue, he observed.

The TVETA chief noted that the knowledge acquired will also assist institutions to be self-reliant and stop relying on national government for funding. He lauded the close working relationship between the national and county governments, adding that their collaborations are key to improving the institutions all over the country.

According to Opwora, “Our (Kenyan) institutions are categorised from vocational training centres at the county level where learners who have undergone training can join national level ones, which is why the two governments working together in terms of curriculum and policies.

“The national government is in charge of policy direction, standardisation, capacity building, curriculum and examinations, which trickles down to the county technical institutions. The reason we are also doing research is because we want to concentrate on what skills are needed today and in the future. We are designing courses that are futuristic and where learners can be quickly absorbed in the job market.”

National Secretary General Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (KATTI) Shadrack Tanui said the workshop is important in the KATTI calendar because of the massive transformation in the TVET space. Tanui said KATTI is overseeing the rollout of the new curriculum and modularisation of the same.

He also confirmed that there was an RPL training for practitioners going on across the country for the purposes of sensitising and training trainers to implement the new curriculum.

“Research is important when it comes to innovations. The meeting of over 250 TVET principals, together with ILO (International Labour Organisation) and research coordinators to find new ways of doing things as we are in an era of 4.0 industrial revolution that embraces the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies to address the emerging needs. Technology is changing and for Kenya to position itself well globally, it requires that its youths be skilled. This is the forum that has brought together some of the leading researchers in the world on how to do things and carry out research.”

KATTI, which is a professional association, is mandated to ensure new skilling and researchers can assist the institutions can reach out to the youths in the countryside to enable them learn from the best.

“We are grateful that the state department of TVET has rolled out a very good programme in collaboration with Germany and Finland in a curriculum that is rated as the best in the world. Through research, it will be successful and we will be able to implement what is needed to make the state department and the agenda of the government in realization of the social pillar of vision 2030.

• A Tell Media report / By Isaiah Wakhungu Andanje