How vocations are filling the skills gap in the market.
The 23-year-old Timothy Kareithi remembers a time when his father in Sirende, Trans Nzoia County, needed a plumber. A week later, he still hadn’t shown up, despite his assurances that he would.
His father’s remark, “If only we had someone in this house who could fix the toilet,” which was obviously an attempt to vent his aggravation, lit the spark that inspired him to pursue a profession in plumbing.
He is currently enrolled in Don Bosco as part of Swisscontact’s PropelA Dual apprenticeship program, which bridges the skills gap in the construction industry by partnering with the public and private sectors.
The apprentices receive their training at Don Bosco and the program is managed by Swisscontact.
He claims that his goal is to promote his abilities to a market that is in desperate need of high-caliber, competent workers.
“Sirende differs from Nairobi in that there are fewer plumbers, businesses, and areas of expertise to develop. You will have to wait if it takes him a month to come and perform things for you because there aren’t many plumbers back home, and they feel entitled too.
Swiss organizations
One of the apprentices who has joined Don Bosco’s PropelA program is Mr. Kareithi. This program aims to close the gap between industry and training, a significant issue that businesses have brought up on multiple occasions.
Hilti Foundation and Geberit International Sales AG, two Swiss organizations, are funding the program, which began in November 2022. It entails providing training for tradespeople that the nation really needs, such electricians and plumbers.
In Nairobi, you will have another contact within the hour if you call a plumber and he says no. However, you will have to wait for that same person you phoned to become available back home, Mr. Kareithi says.
According to a 2023 skills gap assessment published by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), the top three TVET skill demands among the respondents’ firms are building and construction (18.2%), electrical (21.1%), and transportation and logistics (21.3%).
Comparably, computer and software engineering (30.7%), electrical and electronics engineering (27.3%), and mechanical and production engineering (25%) are the engineering specialties that businesses most want to hire.
The majority of the examined businesses (73.1%) employed training to close the skills gap inside their organizations. The FKE Skills Needs survey report from 2023 states that these trainings were provided in capacity development space in cooperation with other organizations.
A quarter of Mr. Kareithi’s training is in class, and the other seventy-five percent is in the field.
The program’s structure states that, in essence, an apprentice spends one week learning pertinent theoretical skills at their vocational training institution and three weeks receiving on-the-job training at businesses within a month.
escalating need
The statement continues, “The dual learning approach aims to create a pipeline of workers who can respond to Kenya’s construction sector’s growing demand for skills in electrical and plumbing installation, as well as maintenance.”
The program’s methodology, according to Paul Murimi, Lead Trainer and Head of the Electrical Department at the institution, aims to raise the caliber of electrical engineers and electricians who are released onto the market.
This is what he refers to as the main gap in the industry right now.
“The quality of work is something that is not very well noticed or lacking, if you have had the opportunity to connect with the market, particularly in the construction business. We’re starting to notice that while there are electricians in our area who can solve electrical issues, their work is often of poor quality. Even though the abilities are being upgraded, the gap remains significant from a professional standpoint, according to Mr. Murimi, even though it may appear narrow to the untrained eye.
According to him, the apprentices are expected to value not just the work being done but also the caliber and rapport with clients on behalf of the organization.
“As an illustration, how are you cutting a cable? When you have completed the repairs, what next? We even consider neatness and cleanliness, connecting the quality skills to the needs of the clients,” he adds.
According to him, the program’s pattern of instruction enables an apprentice to focus on a skill they are proficient in while simultaneously keeping up with industry advancements. This isn’t the same as what happens at other training facilities or even the way Mr. Murimi received his training.
“I attest that for the past 1.5 years that we have been with cohort one, they have had the opportunity to apply more of what they have learned in the classroom as well as from the industry. It took me four years to learn some of the things they do,” he says.
“You can see the fruits within one year of learning knowledge that is taught in other programs for possibly two or three years,” he continues. Nobody could first fully appreciate the impact of this program on an apprentice’s life, but as time goes on, we can see what they are capable of.
As Mr. Murimi points out, “in the market we know what is flooded and what is not,” some of the apprentices already have some background knowledge and only need to be guided to pursue their ambitions.
One such person is Eunice Makena, a 26-year-old who trained at Christian Industrial and Training Center as a Grade III wireman prior to enrolling in Don Bosco Institute. While completing her attachment at Ultra Power, an electrical installation and maintenance company, she became aware of the program.
“For a while now, my passion has been electrical. I live alone, therefore I take care of any issues that arise with the electrical connections or appliances in my home. Even electrical equipment are used in this process. I’ve decided to go study more about this because I love it, and it’s my passion,” she exclaims.
striking variations
The program differs noticeably from other Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) offerings, according to Timothy Vera, Lead Trainer and Head of the Plumbing Department, who has over ten years of experience working with the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA).
He highlights that one significant distinction is that apprentices are able to engage with contemporary tools during their education, which lessens the need for employers to provide onboarding training.
“At first, we had TVET students who, because they were accustomed to theory, we discovered when they entered the sector that they were embarking on a new academic adventure.
In order to allow them to be integrated straight into the industry, this program fills in this gap, the speaker claims.
Veroline Amadi, an electrical department trainer, holds the same opinion. “We teach innovations including solar owing to the changes in the market, while other institutions still use the old syllabus,” she explains.
So how do the instructors manage to stay one step ahead of even the students who are employed by prestigious companies?
“Normally, we organize two trainers at the end of the semester, but this time, we have two scheduled,” Mr. Vera says.
“It’s easy to be challenged if the trainer lacks the necessary knowledge and skills because the apprentices bring more questions from the industry to class every time they return.”
How vocations are filling the skills gap in the market.
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