Technical colleges say curriculum outdated

By Protus Onyango

Kenya: Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (Katti) is pushing for a review of training institutions’ curriculum.

Katti said the move would curb high rate of student drop out.

“The modular system that we currently have, which is meant to be short and flexible, is wasting students’ time forcing many of them to drop out,” said Mr Edwin Tarno, Katti’s chairman said at a three-day conference in Kisumu Polytechnic.

Tarno, who teaches at the Rift Valley Technical Training Institute (RVTTI), said the former system where students trained for three years before sitting for final examination was better than the current modular system.

“What we have now is a system where students sit for an examination after one year and have to wait for eight months before the results are released to progress to the next stage,” Tarno said.

“This forces students to take five years instead of three and many of them opt out after the first year, but because the content of what they have acquired is not enough, they end up not being employed,” he said.

Drop out

“The findings of the research that we have released in this forum suggest that 40 per cent of our students have dropped out of college in the last three years,” Tarno said.

He asked the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and Kenya National Examinations Council to curb the high rate of student drop out. Lecturers from various technical training institutions supported the call to change the curriculum.

“The system is making us lose very many students. Three years ago, we admitted 25 students to study automotive course and 28 engineering. Only three sat for final exams in each of the courses,” a lecturer said.

Mujumba Obweyere, an Assistant Director for Technical Training in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said the institution would develop a master plan for funding technical education.