MoE plans to onboard TVET trainers for senior schools

Education CS Julius Ogamba at the Kenya School of TVET for a quarterly meeting of the Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions principals and directors. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

The Ministry of Education is now in the process of onboarding trainers from the Technical Vocational and Educational Training Institutions TVETs to bridge the gap in teachers for Technical subjects in Senior Secondary Schools.

This remark was made by Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Ogamba on Monday during the quarterly meeting of Principals and chairpersons of Technical Training Institutions at the Kenya School of TVET. The CS confirmed that consultations are ongoing with the teachers’ employer, the Teachers Service Commission TSC to ensure the same happens.

CS Ogamba admitted that there was indeed a lack of teachers and that there are ongoing plans to onboard some trainers from the Kenya School of TVET.

“The school of TVET has also been approached to train teachers for our basic institutions on technical subjects because we rolled out the Competency Based Education in those spaces and we don’t have enough teachers in those specific subjects.”

Some of the technical subjects offered in Senior Secondary include Marine and Fisheries Technology, Aviation, Metalwork, Power Mechanics and Building Construction.

On the part of TVET institutions, Ogamba said that the Ministry is going to undertake a rationalisation exercise whereby institutions that have more equipment than they require will be required to give out to those institutions that do not have.

“It is very sad that we have machines that are not being used while somebody else has students who have no machines to use. These are all Kenyan students.”

The Kenya Association of Technical and Training Institutions KATTI asked for the CS to shield principals from political interference and he promised to do so provided their institutions are running properly, arguing that a transfer that has been prompted due to management failure is very valid.

Principal Secretary in charge of the TVET State Department, Dr Esther Muoria, also sounded a warning to principals who run their institutions poorly.

“We shall not hesitate to hold accountable institutions whose governance is weak, whose public resources are mismanaged or whose performance remains below expectation. Whether you go to the High Court or to the lower court or to the middle court, it won’t matter.”

She challenged principals to seek partnerships with industries, with CS Ogamba insisting on the identification of a flagship training and production initiative linked to a regional, county or national value chain.

The institutions have been given a target of enrolling approximately 2 million students, up from 718,000.