The planned upgrade of five technical and vocational institutions to centres of excellence is a viable first step to giving thousands of Form Four leavers locked out of university a bridge to meaningful lives of dignity and promise.
The five-year Sh2 billion World Bank plan includes institutions in Tanzania and Ethiopia and will target an overhaul of infrastructure and learning and teaching equipment, as well as infusion of fresh content in curriculum and training of faculty.
Especially remarkable is that the colleges will be turned into specialisation hubs in fields such as transport and infrastructure, marine studies, power, energy and information and communication technology.
The project could not have come at a more opportune time — just as the country begins implementing the competency-based curriculum (CBC) in basic education and competency-based education and training (Cbet) in higher levels.
The changes will give special focus to individual talents and interests as opposed to performance in summative national examinations.
They also hope to dispel the long-held misconception that the only way to higher education is to join university and graduate with a degree.
Technical, vocational education and training (TVET) colleges have suffered neglect through the years as secondary school leavers trooped to universities for diploma and degrees while those ineligible for the institutions joined informal employment, got lured into crime or simply idled in the villages, jobless and hopeless.
Only a handful joined the rundown TVET colleges, which became synonymous with dilapidation, outdated curriculums and severe staff shortages. Those who joined the colleges were seen as losers and failures compared to those in university.
It is, therefore, prudent that the government is reviving the TVET colleges to turn them into producers of graduates with apt technical and vocational skills, which dovetail with the country’s national economic goals as laid out in the Kenya Vision 2030 and Jubilee’s ‘Big Four Agenda’ to reform healthcare, manufacturing, housing and food security, hoping to uplift living conditions.
However, the government must first figure out how to make these colleges attractive to prospective students and parents who regard them as moribund and outdated. It could begin with presentations in schools on the courses on offer and the job opportunities.
It would be a national shame to put up technical colleges in every county in addition to the existing ones if no student ever goes there or those who do end up being jobless.
While we support the ongoing reforms, we urge the government to undertake a public education campaign on the role of TVETs in the country’s economic development, besides speeding up the planned upgrade of the colleges.
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