Participants listen to Standard Group Chief Executive officer, Orlando Lyomu during the Kenya Association of Technical Training capacity building workshop and AGM for principals, directors, and deputy principals at PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort in Mombasa on September 2021.[Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Standard Group Chief Executive Officer Orlando Lyomu yesterday assured Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions of continued partnership to ensure more Kenyans access technical skills.

Mr Lyomu said the company was keen to partner with upcoming technical training institutions in a bid to support their growth.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Group and the Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (KATTI) in 2016 had borne fruit after technical institutions recorded huge enrollment and the government introduced grants to students.

The efforts, he said, had created a shift from the rush for university degrees which had seen many technical institutions being converted to public universities.

The CEO was speaking during a capacity-building training for TVET principals and deputies in Mombasa County. The Group is the media sponsor.

He said the advocacy was carried out through Technical and Vocational Training Journal and other platforms that saw the Group provide training opportunities for students.

“We provided a platform for advertising and awareness and as a result some institutions registered over-enrollment. We are happy that students in technical training institutions were considered worthy of government grants,” he said.

Suitable media solutions

The CEO said the Group was ready to sit down with heads of upcoming TVET institutions and come up with suitable media solutions that will raise their enrolment and ensure growth.

“There are institutions that will be better served by print media while others will require radio or digital platforms. We need to sit down with the upcoming institutions and find solutions. We are willing and ready to give customers solutions,” he said.

He was responding to calls by leaders from upcoming technical institutions who called for strong support from the Group to grow their student numbers.

“We need to embrace technical training to support the future. We should prepare students to fit in the digital space. We should prepare our students for the future,” the CEO said.

KATTI Secretary General Maren Omondi said the vocational institutions in the country were experiencing a high enrollment especially after the Government introduced a Sh30,000 capital grant for each student enrolled through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).

Omondi who is the principal of Ramogi Technical Institute for Advanced Technology said in additional students can apply for loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

“We have witnessed high enrolment in TVET institutions as many needy students can join the courses and benefit from the capitation grant,” she said.

Meanwhile, assistant internal auditor general in the Ministry of Education Alice Kaguongo while fielding questions from principals who complained that they do not get sitting allowances, told the them that secretaries to the boards of governors (BOGs) in their institutions, they should seek the approval of the boards for them to be considered for sitting allowances.

She said the boards oversight the Tvet institutions and principals cannot draw allowances without their express approval.

“The BOGs should sit down and decide whether to give principals sitting allowances or not, “ she said.