Kenya has enrolled more than 100,000 trainees in modular Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) courses as the government pushes to align skills with industry needs.
Principal Secretary for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Esther Muoria said the reforms, rolled out in September 2023, are transforming the country’s human capital development and addressing systemic inequalities in the education sector.
"The curriculum is anchored in occupational standards where training and assessments are carried out from industry, with industry and for industry. This ensures that graduates are not only certified but competent and employable," said Muoria.
Speaking during a capacity building workshop for university TVETs, she urged institutions of higher learning to consolidate gains made under CBET and scale up best practices into university curricula.
The modular CBET curriculum was introduced to address challenges from the initial rollout, including delayed programme completion, inconsistent delivery and weak assessment planning.
The new approach has streamlined progression pathways, removed duplication of content and standardised assessment methods.
According to Muoria, 311 curricula have been modularised, with guidelines and schedules issued to institutions.
Of the current enrolment, 80,000 trainees are in public TVETs and 20,000 in private institutions, vocational training centres and university TVETs.
In the July–August 2025 assessment series, 45,000 candidates were examined under the new framework, with results expected soon.
The assessments were conducted by the TVET Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council (TVET-CDACC) and national polytechnics acting as Qualification Awarding Bodies.
Universities offering TVET courses have helped reduce stigma once associated with vocational training, Muoria observed.
"While universities primarily confer degrees, their offering of TVET courses has shifted public perception and demonstrated that vocational skills are not second-rate," she noted.
She cautioned that gaps remain, including lack of standardisation in training plans, continued reliance on conventional teaching methods, inadequate resources and limited industry involvement.
"The journey of CBET is a story of bold reform, resilience and innovation. It is transforming TVET institutions into centres of excellence, equipping the youth with the skills to thrive in a competitive labour market," Muoria explained.
CBET system was introduced to replace time bound, theory heavy vocational courses with flexible, skills driven training aligned to industry standards.
The approach, anchored in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act of 2013 and the 2019 TVET Policy Framework, is designed to produce graduates who can meet both local and international labour market demands.
Under CBET, learners progress through independent modules and can earn partial or full qualifications at their own pace.
This allows them to join the workforce quickly or return later to gain additional skills.
The government has set a target for all TVET institutions to fully adopt the model by January 2026, with enrolment expected to rise from about 700,000 to two million.
The reforms are part of a broader shift in Kenya’s education system, which began with competency based curricula in basic education and is now extending into higher learning.
Officials say the changes aim to address youth unemployment, reduce skills mismatches and position vocational training as a credible alternative to university degrees
