Vocational Education and Training Partnership Kenya

Duration: 12/2014 – 09/2021

German Project Executing Agencies: Chamber of Crafts (HWK) Frankfurt-Rhine-Main and Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Giessen-Friedberg

Administration: sequa gGmbH

Funding: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Kenyan Partners: Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Kenya Association of Technical Training Institutions (KATTI), Kenya Federation of Master Builders (KFMB)

Kabete National Polytechnic (KNB), Eastland College of Technology (ECT), Kenya Technical Trainers College (KTTC) and St. Kizito Vocational Training Institute

Region: Greater Nairobi

Occupational Fields: Scaffolding, Automotive (Mechatronics, Bodywork and Vehicle Painting), Industrial Electronics

Training Statistics:

Youth unemployment is a major problem in Kenya, as more than a third of Kenya's young population is unemployed. In addition, almost 60 percent of the population is under 20 years of age, which means that the pressure on the labor market remains distinctively high.

The existing vocational training system has serious problems. It is inadequately geared to the needs of industry, uses outdated curricula and inadequate equipment. Furthermore, the trainers need to be trained more adequately, too, so they can pass on their knowledge more comprehensively. The qualifications of vocational training graduates are deficient, and only a few find employment in the private sector.

With the adoption of a new vocational training policy in 2013, the Kenyan government responded to this shortcoming and is making intensive efforts to modernize the sector and make it more demand-oriented. The goal of the reform is to initiate a renewal of the vocational training sector and provide well-qualified skilled workers for industry. For this purpose, Kenya is relying on the implementation of a competency-based vocational education and training (CBET) system. This form of vocational training focuses on the competencies to be learned by an individual in order to meet the requirements in the industry. The training courses are split up into modules. The trainee is thus enabled to learn skills step by step.

This is also the starting point for the BMZ-funded vocational training partnership led by the Chamber of Crafts Frankfurt-Rhein-Main in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Giessen-Friedberg since December 2014. In conjunction with selected trade associations and vocational training institutions, dual-oriented vocational training courses are set up in selected occupations.

Thanks to the vocational training partnership focussing on involving the private sector, the qualification of graduates of training courses offered by selected vocational training institutions in exemplary occupations is to be geared more closely to the needs of companies. By achieving this goal, the employment opportunities of youth and young adults in Kenya will be improved and more skilled workers will be available to Kenyan companies.

In the second phase, the vocational training partnership was divided into three results to be achieved.

Demand- and practice-oriented vocational training courses with elements of the dual training system are sustainably anchored in selected vocational training programs:

The vocational training project supports Kenyan partners in the model implementation of dual training courses in three selected sectors (industrial electronics, automotive and scaffolding). Consultancy services and know-how transfer with the CCI Giessen-Friedberg and the HWK Frankfurt-Rhine-Main are provided for this purpose as well as subsidies for personnel and material costs. Curricula for the three occupational fields are developed jointly with representatives of trade associations, companies and vocational training institutions. A training program for trainers is tailored to the needs of the industry. In addition, companies are recruited to take on trainees for the practical phase of dual training. The certification and accreditation process is supported in order to ensure the sustainable anchoring of the vocational training measures in the Kenyan vocational training system.

Decision-makers are continuously made aware of the model character of the vocational training courses with elements of the dual education system:

The VET partnership advocates the model character of demand-driven training courses through various events and publications, such as trade fairs, conferences and publication of studies and field reports. The dialogue process between training institutions and the private sector is supported with the aim of disseminating elements of the dual training model.

Dialogue and information flow between decision makers of the Kenyan VET system are strengthened in close cooperation with the Round Table on Vocational Education and Training in Kenya (PWG):

The VET Partnership supports the Roundtable on VET Reform in Kenya.

Numerous stakeholders are working within the exchange platform to implement reforms. The project is creating a systematic knowledge management system to support Kenya's VET reforms and transfer knowledge.

In the first phase of the project, demand-oriented curricula for the three occupational fields were developed with local representatives of professional associations, entrepreneurs and vocational training institutions. Through the establishment of networks, an active exchange between industry and vocational training institutions was initiated. In the first phase, which at first focused on setting up training programs with dual elements and a pilot character, 92 trainers in the three occupational fields and 104 trainees were trained.

During the second phase of the project, the curricula for scaffolding and industrial electronics were fully certified by the local authorities. A total of 378 trainers and 586 trainees were trained (tested and passed) in the revised vocational training courses supported by the VET partnership.

In October 2019, the Hessian Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Housing, Tarek Al-Wazir visited the project in Kenya as part of a delegation trip with representatives of Hessian politics and business.

In mid-December 2020, the graduation ceremony of the second industrial electronics training cohort took place at the Kenya Technical Trainers College (KTTC) in Nairobi. The course is a dual training program supported by the CCI Giessen-Friedberg, based on the German model and adapted to Kenyan conditions. From 2014 to 2021, the CCI Giessen-Friedberg carried out a vocational education and training partnership in Kenya together with the Chamber of Crafts Frankfurt-Rhine-Main. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the development organization sequa gGmbH.

The project partners, together with the CCI Giessen-Friedberg and the Chamber of Crafts Frankfurt-Rhein-Main, have produced a handbook on the project. In the manual, they have recorded their experiences with dual vocational training in Kenya. The aim is to give other vocational school institutions and associations in Kenya some kind of guidance, if they want to implement dual vocational training and to generally promote dual vocational training.

On July 7th, the manual was presented to the Kenyan public at a small event with 45 participants. The project partners as well as participating companies and trainees also had their say and reported on their experiences. The participants were very positive about the event and the project manual. The project manual is available for download on this website under "Further Information".