Government to phase out business courses
All the TVET institutions have been directed to stop offering business courses as the government plans to phase out all business related courses in the next three years.
This is because the government want the institutions to offer courses that is geared towards enhancing creativity, innovation and technology. In this regard the colleges will offer STEM related courses (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses).
Following the current rise in demand of TVET training, the government has also announced that a total of three thousand tutors will be hired by March this year to meet the demands and ensure quality education in the Tvet colleges.
Ezekiel Machogu the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education has urged the principals of TVET colleges, polytechnics and teacher training colleges to promote and favor Stem related courses over business courses.
In a circular that was issued towards the end of last month, Cabinet Secretary directed the principals to favor stem courses explaining the government’s plan to do away with business programmes within the next three years.
The Cabinet Secretary further urged the principals in the circular to develop a roadmap towards the removing business programmes within the 3 years from December twenty third, 2022. He also instructed that the principals come up with strategies to increase admission of students to pursue Stem courses.
Ezekiel Machogu disclosed that the government has invested a lot in terms of resources in all TVET institutions in order to support of Stem courses. Therefore, it is of great importance to ensure that value for money invested in Tvet institutions for supporting Stem must be realised or derived.
Even as the government directs the Tvet institutions, polytechnics and teacher training Colleges to phase out business courses the principals have been advised to ensure that there is no drop in the overall enrolment.
In the letter, the principals have been asked to make a report on the enrollment and an implementation matrix expounding how the phasing out of the business courses will be carried out and the strategies to be used to increase the enrolment in STEM courses.
The dateline for submitting these reports to the Ministry of Education will be on Friday.
It has also been revealed that the move by the government to order phasing out of business courses have come a few weeks after the government bagged a major deal with German counterpart.
A bilateral has been signed between the two countries where the German government committed twenty billion shillings to support of five sectors in Kenya. This includes agriculture, Tvet, youth, climate and energy sectors.
Sebastian Groth German Ambassador said the aid is part of the deal signed in December between the 2 governments.
Groth also said there are negotiations which are ongoing that will see the Kenyan government export skilled labour to German and other European countries.
Tvet Authority has registered and accredited close to twenty five hundred institutions and have less than five thousand tutors. The programmes offered in Tvet institutions are twelve thousand as per now.
