Government to construct more TVET institutions to curb demand

The government plans to construct more technical training institutions countrywide to supply the labour market with skilled and innovative human capital. This is due to increased student enrollment and demand for technical skills over the years.

While attending the National TVET centenary celebrations at Kabete National Polytechnic on Wednesday, President William Ruto said the government plans to construct more vocational training centres in every constituency in Kenya to enable more learners to acquire relevant skills.

"We are developing 16 new centres to fulfil our policy of having one in each constituency," he said.

Technical training colleges are the master key to the door of opportunities for our young people. We are providing the necessary support to TVET institutions to power our industrialisation, technology and innovation, thereby enhancing our global competitiveness.

At the Kabete… pic.twitter.com/S6G3YZiHaN

— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) July 31, 2024

The president said these training colleges are the master key to opening more opportunities for young people. The expansion of TVET education in providing specialised training helps young Kenyans to grab existing and emerging opportunities in key sectors such as agriculture, the blue economy, renewable energy, manufacturing, infrastructure development, mining, housing, and climate action.

Ruto added that the government is pumping more resources into technical institutions to power key sectors of the country like industrialisation, technology, and innovation and to also ensure they are competitive globally.

"We have committed Sh28.3 billion for allocation to TVET institutions and recruited 2,000 TVET tutors to bring the total trained faculty to 3,300," Ruto revealed.

More than 50,000 trainees in these institutions will benefit from government scholarships worth Sh1.95 billion and Higher Education Loan Board worth Sh6.15 billion in loans to benefit 167,000 trainees.

In pursuit of providing trainees with world-class exposure in the course of their learning, the president said they are equipping 70 TVETs with state-of-the-art equipment.

TVET's overall national enrolment has increased by nearly a thousand per cent from 60,700 trainees six years ago to 642, 726 trainees today.

Today the country has 320 public TVET colleges, 24 are national polytechnics while four of them cater to learners with special needs.