In a bid to increase skilled laborers and curb unemployment among the youth the government is set to establish technical training institutes in Lodwar and Kapenguria, Higher Education Minister Margaret Kamar has said.
Speaking in Kitale, Kamar said the Government is committed to investing heavily in technical institutes after the realization that skilled personnel are the backbone to social economic development and industrial growth in our country.
She said the institutions will help address education needs for residents at the extreme North Rift region, which has for long lagged behind.
“Students in these regions have had a challenge of travelling to far places to seek for higher education as the nearest institution is Kitale Technical Training Institute,” she said.
The Director in Charge of Technical training Owate Wambayi opposed the move to elevate middle level colleges to universities saying it denies students with lower grades a chance to further their studies.
Wambayi further said the move will lead to unemployment, as tutors with lower qualifications will have no opportunities to teach at the established universities and they will produce managers minus those to be managed.
“Elevating these institutions to universities will create unemployment since only highly qualified personnel will be required to teach shutting down tutors at the middle level colleges,” he said.
The director said middle level colleges are key to Kenya’s development since they provide technical skills needed for the country to realize Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2030.
He also dismissed a misconception that the institutions are meant for failures saying the country needs technical skills being offered by the institutes to spearhead development in the country.
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