The government has set aside Sh500 million to provide loans to students selected to join the various Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) across the country.
Another Sh15.8 bllion has been set aside to equip TTIs with state of the art equipment that will be used for training.
The government has also appealed to youth to come forth and take advantage of these opportunities to acquire skills needed in the job market.
Speaking during the Africa Tech Challenge student award ceremony held at a Nairobi hotel and presided by Deputy President William Ruto, Education Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i said there are over 220,000 positions in TTIs that youth need to utilise.
Matiang’i said no student should claim they couldn’t go to a TTI for lack of funds as they can get loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb).
“We will do what we need to do to support our TTIs. Our focus is to ensure we raise up the number of students enrolling in TTIs,” said Ruto as quoted by DPPS
The Education Cabinet Secretary said some of the country’s TTIs have the capacity of manufacturing operational machines and spare parts, some of which have already been exported to China.
Ruto said the government is building capacity in TTIs so that they can be better placed to equip Kenyans with the relevant technical skills.
The Deputy President said the government realised there was a need to train more Kenyans in technical fields, a move aimed at utilizing the country’s human capital.
He said the Government is keen on training the right number of people in the right fields so that the country can have adequate technicians and artisans to propel Kenya into an industrial country.
Ruto said: “Unless we have people with the relevant skills and competence, Vision 2030 can easily be vision 3020.”
He added: “We have to align the training that we have with the needs of the market, based on the agenda and the vision we have set out for ourselves.”
The Deputy President appealed to the youth to take advantage of the equipped TTIs across the country to acquire skills that will give them an edge in the job market.
He urged them not to look down on the technical courses noting that some of the jobs they stand to get after graduation pay better than some degree courses.
Mr Ruto added: “We made a decision that Helb will also have provision to have TTI students have access to loans.”
The awards ceremony brought together Kenyan and Chinese Government officials, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) representatives and students from various TTIs who participated in the contest.
Three students were awarded full scholarships to study engineering courses in China by AVIC.