Graduation
Technical and Vocational and Education Training Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Esther Muoria has directed all institutions under the docket align their course outlines with the job market demand to ease absorption of graduates.
She directed all Technical and Vocational and Education Training institutes in the country to link up with the key industries players to produce fully skilled graduands.
Speaking during the fifth graduation ceremony at Meru National Polytechnic, where 5,054 learners were awarded various certificates, the PS said this was the only way to ensure that the training done undertaken the learners remains relevant.
“We want to make sure we allow trainees to graduate when we know where they are going because it is not enough to just train them, but it is important that we know where they are going after training,” said Dr. Muoria.
She said the ministry of education is also ensuring the Dual TVET model is fully implemented, where 50 percent of the learners’ time will be spent in industry.
The Dual TVET approach combines classroom instruction and industry experience. Students spend at least half their training time at the TVET Institution and the other half in industry, guided by a qualified in-company mentor. This structure provides a comprehensive education that teaches both basic and practical skills.
“This is because the Kenya Kwanza Government wants to ensure that we do an end-to-end job, which means that we train our graduands with an end in mind,” said the PS.
She added: “I want to be very grateful to GIZ from Germany. As a state department we have decided that we are going to go by the German training model because Germany got to where they are because of imparting their youth with absolute skill.”
Dr. Muoria said the country through the ministry of education and specifically the state department for TVET has taken a stand to take up the German model of skills training to ensure youth are well trained and skilled as a way of industrialising the country.
From Left: Meru National Polytechnic Chief Principal Mutembei Kigige, TVET PS Dr. Esther Muoria and Meru National Polytechnic Council Chairman Dr. Antony Njagi. Photos by Dickson Mwiti.
“We want to industrialise this country and industrialists will only come to Kenya, when they know that we have pools of skilled youth,” she said, adding that this will also address the issue of youth unemployment by exporting labour to countries in need.
The state department, she added, has ensured that the implementation of Curriculum Based Education Training (CBET) curriculum takes root into our institutions, where trainees will be instilled with necessary skills that ensure that they thrive in the economy.
“In support of the curriculum, the government has continued to recruit trainers and the last 2000 that we interviewed are waiting for the Public Service Commission to finish their work so that we can post them into our institutions,” said Dr. Muoria.
Meru National Polytechnic Chief Principal Mutembei Kigige congratulated the graduands as well as the parents, sponsors and guardians for the immense support throughout their training process. He said as they celebrate TVET movement at 100 years, they can also proudly say that the polytechnic is the home of research and innovations.
“We have deliberately supported our trainees, sponsored, and identified talents in solving societal problems, hence this year alone we have come up with many innovations like solar green preservative machines, manufacture of Novel organic fertilizer, automated train, Transformer vandalism protector,” said Kigige.
He said the institution takes the area of innovation with the seriousness it deserves and any students who have ideas are usually supported with the resources they require to come up with the innovation and develop them to the level of patenting.
“We are happy the government as well as other players have come up to help in absorbing them for further training,” he said. The Chief Principal said the 100th anniversary of TVET institutions marks a century of transforming lives, empowering communities, and driving economic development through skill-based education.
“Our institution has recently been accredited as a qualification awarding institution, authorised to create curricula, impart knowledge and conduct assessments. This prestigious status is a testament to our unwavering commitment to academic excellence and innovation in technical and vocational education and training,” said Kigige.