First phase of Kenya, Korea vocational training program kicks off

Global Civic Sharing has implemented the first phase of the Youth and Women Empowerment Program.

The program aimed at improving the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVETs) in Kenya by developing the competency of TVET instructors’ teaching methods and curriculum.

The three-phase program, that is to be implemented annually from 2022 to 2024, is funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), under its flagship fellowship program called Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow (CIAT).

The organization conducted a 5 day capacity building training seminar in Nairobi, Kenya, targeting 20 TVET Sector working level officials and instructors from Kakamega County.

A group of education experts from South Korea led by Professor Kim Duk Ho, Professor Lee Ji Yeon Professor Lee Eunbae attended the seminar and highlighted on the importance of competency based education for young men and women.

They shared that there is always a race between technology and education, and whenever technology is ahead of education then many graduates, especially from the TVET sector experience a skills mismatch in the job market.

“Companies are spending a lot of money in re-training graduates from TVET institutions to fit in their job description and meet the current technology in their companies which makes them not create more employment space across the board. But with competency based education, the young men and women will be able to get skills at their tender age that closely matches the technology being used in the industries,” said Professor Kim Duk Ho.

Prof Lee Ji-Yeon said: “Competency based education will be the best for learners who are still young and will mold their growth in education hence fit in TVET and tertiary curriculum easily.”

In her presentation she was able to show the participants that the future of education and skills 2030 calls for a holistic concept of competency that involves a delicate balance of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in order to be able to meet the complex demands of the modern work place.

The experts also said that in order to meet the emerging technologies in modern industries, TVETs and other tertiary institutions need to work very closely with industries and companies as one of the key stakeholders when it comes to curriculum development. Regular curriculum reviews should be conducted and importantly these reviews should come from an informed position of Job analyses. This alone has a great potential in addressing the issue of unemployment among young men and women graduating from TVET institutions.

Zakayo Mutonga who is the acting manager at NITA Athi River Center said that many TVET institutions in the country struggle with the issue of finding internship and job opportunities for their learners and graduates respectively and the solution to that is partnering with the industry players.

He said that the NITA Athi River Center has greatly benefitted from these kinds of partnerships as they no longer worry about internship opportunities for their learners. Their flagship partnerships include fashion design with EPZ, E-waste management with CSFK & WEE Centre, Plumbing with Trindent Plumbers, and Auto Electric with Hyundai Dream Center.

Mr. Jooyong Choi, who was representing Global Civic Sharing, said that improving the effectiveness of TVETs has the direct effect of empowering many women and youth graduates for self-sustainable development. This is important because the majority of the Kenyan population is the youth.