Huawei announces sponsorship for 2024 World Skills national competition

Huawei Kenya Director of Government Affairs Adam Lane, TVET PS Dr Esther Muoria, Education CS Julius Migosi, CEO KSTVET Dr Edwin Tarno and TVETA Director General Dr Kipkirui Langat at the official opening of the 2024 World Skills Kenya National Competition final. [Courtesy]

Huawei Kenya has announced its sponsorship for the 2024 World Skills Kenya National Competition finals.

At the opening of the event on Monday, Huawei said it will support student training in five tracks including IT Networking, Cybersecurity, IT software, Information Network cabling, and Mobile Applications Development.

The director of government affairs at Huawei Kenya Adam Lane said Huawei will also support with internet for the training facilities and provide switches and routers for training.

Led by TVET Authority Director General Kipkirui Langat, the 2024 World Skills Kenya is taking place this week at Kenya School of TVET, as part of the international competition.

During the event Huawei also officially handed over a plaque to Kenya School of TVET (KSTVET), having recently signed an agreement for the School to be an ICT Academy Support Centre (IASC).

This entails Huawei's support for KS TVET lecturers, trainers and equipment so KSTVET can in turn train TVET lecturers and trainers across the country.

Lane said Huawei is currently working with 10 national polytechnics and has trained 20 lecturers, who in turn have trained over 280 students.

"We believe we need to do more and the partnerships with World Skills Kenya and KS TVET will help us expand our training programs nationwide, providing critical ICT skills for youth," said Lane.

He said that the evolution of technological space continues to bring forth new technological innovations.

"Those that are in existence are being upgraded in many forms. This calls for the personnel who are trained in the different fields to continue learning and adapting to the changes. It is therefore important to invest in the youth who are the workforce on the different trends of technology in the world today, through capacity building initiatives," Lane said.

According to him, last year Huawei supported 2 tracks (IT Networking & Cybersecurity) and provided further training for the winner to be better prepared for the global final in September 2024.

In addition to partnering with KS TVET as an IASC, Huawei has begun to expand this partnership to be even bigger, collaborating with TVETA and Konza on the Jitume Project, not only on training but also providing smart classroom and internet solutions in 2 TVETs in Kakamega.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migosi emphasised the value that World Skills brings noting that "each participant will have the opportunity to learn from international best practices and gain invaluable insights to enrich their skills."'

Migosi said the participants will engage in practical simulations, problem-solving exercises and collaborative projects that highlight the transformative capabilities of their skills.

His sentiments were echoed by TVET Principal Secretary Esther Muori who called on more partners to invest in Kenya which has a pool of skills.

"We are here, making a statement to the World that we are coming up with the requisite skills and the world should be here, investing in Kenya because we have pools of skilled people," she said.

In his remarks, Kenya School of TVET CEO Edwin Tarno thanked Huawei on behalf of the Kenyan government and the TVET institutions saying the partnership, "Will help us expand our training to support the ICT sector in Kenya, including Artificial Intelligence and all the aspects that are used in technical education".