TVET to train and certify over 800,000 professional painters

TVET Principal Secretary Dr Esther Muoria during the Tinderet TVC graduation on November 22, 2025. [Courtesy]

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has partnered with a local firm to sponsor, train and integrate over 800 thousand passionate, skilled and professional painters, and give them a government certificate.

In a Memorandum signed yesterday between the TVET Principal Secretary, Dr Esther Thaara Muoria and the Group Chief Operations Officer, Richard Muturi, the memorandum highlighted how the two groups are going to bridge the growing need for professional painters in the industrialised world.

Speaking at her office in Jogoo House, the PS for the State Department told The Standard that she and Crown Paint have signed an agreement to train young people who will be interested in training as skilled painters.

‘’I’m glad to sign an agreement with Crown Paint Kenya to train any young individuals who will show interest in painting,’’ she said.

Further adding that the Government is committed to having very practical and absolute training for the young generation to meet the demand of the shifting world towards technical skills, both for self-employment, local engagement and international engagement.

The MEMO stated that Crown Paint takes full responsibility to train the students to the exactness and to be able to certify them for the spaces they have already identified.

The PS added that they are interested in training practically with them, stating that TVET as a department, through the directives by the Ministry of Education, is that they are training pragmatically and is actively bringing in industries to be able to train with the TVETS.

‘’We are pragmatically training and incorporating industries to add their required skills in our curriculum’’, she stated.

Further adding that it is the industries who know exactly the kind of qualities they need in their respective fields.

The PS reminded the industries that it is not their work to train but rather to produce, upscale this country to industrialisation, leaving for them the duty of training, adding that they are open to the industries to tell them what they should train.

"Stop the business of training; we are the trainers. We only require your skills and ideas," said the PS.

The PS assured Crown Paint Kenya that they will train qualified painters who will understand the science behind painting, reassuring them that the integration programme will commence immediately and they will inform all the institutions across the country to organise classes for the programme.

Ritchard Muturi, the Group Chief, said that the initiative will take the opportunity to build technical capability and capacity that can be built into the economy. Adding that Kenya is under construction and there is a need for trained people who can handle projects like the affordable housing project, which will need painting.

‘’This is an opportunity to equip passionate young people with skills in painting, being that we have vast demand but lack skilled personnel,’’ Muturi said.

He further added that the MOU gives them the platform to be able to skill up and accelerate the particular gap that is capability, and it is going to be practical skills, not just sitting in class.

"This is going to be practical skills, as it gives us the platform to skill up and accelerate the particular gap,’’ he said.

Muchiri said that the goal after certifying the qualified individuals will be to integrate them into the spaces they have created as the Crown Paint team, where they have a greater team of certified painters across the nation.

The team Kubwa in Crown that has 180,000 certified painters across the nation will ensure that the trained personnel are entrepreneurs and can get painting jobs around the country and be able to grow themselves as well as develop the economy

 Glad to sign an agreement to train our young people in painting; we, as government we're committed to having very practical training both for local engagement, self, and international engagement as well. We have agreed that they will train them all the way to certification; the certificate will be a government certificate signed by Crown Paints.