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The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) has opened a regional office in Kisumu.
The office is the third after Mombasa and Eldoret.
Principal Secretary for Vocational and Technical Training Dr Margaret Mwakima on Thursday presided over the opening of the office at the second floor of Reinsurance Plaza along Kenyatta Avenue.
Devoution
According to the PS, the office has been set up in line with the Constitution of Kenya 2010 which provides for moving government services closer to the people.
“Operationalization of this office comes with value for money. We want the public to make good use of it,” she said.
Professor Florence Indede, the Chairperson of TVETA Board noted that the new office will serve the ten counties of; Kisumu, Siaya, Migori, Homa Bay, Nyamira, Kisii, Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma.
The region, she said has 58 public TVET institutions, and that having the regional office will help facilitate the handling of regulatory issues within the institutions.
Weeding out unscrupulous TVET institutions
Prof Indede called on accredited TVET institutions to work with the authority in weeding out mushrooming unaccredited institutions which were posing unfair competition in the field.
“TVETA may not be everywhere to see these unaccredited institutions, but as stakeholders, you can smoke them out,” she said.
She noted that Western Kenya is boasting of opportunities in the blue economy, through Lake Victoria resources, and other upcoming development projects which is a ripe market for TVET skills.
“You must now be innovative so as to come up with trainings which are job oriented,” she said.
470, 000 TVET students
Her sentiments were echoed by Dr Kipkirui Langat, the Director General of TVETA who said the office will work with stakeholders to improve quality of training in the institutions.
Dr Langat said there are at least 470, 000 students in all the 2, 159 registered TVETS across the country, with about 7, 000 trainers.
He also noted that the office will work with stakeholders to improve enrollment in TVETS, saying that the current enrollment rate was low.
“In the latest census, the population of youths aged 15 to 24 was 10 million, yet we only have 470, 000 students in TVET and another 600, 000 in universities,” he said.