TVET: Key Lessons on Effective Higher Education Leadership During the Pandemic and Beyond

These are disruptive times and as technical training institution leaders we have to navigate new pathways.  We have to come up with new thinking driven by strong leadership to create inclusive and equitable training systems. We have to be the thought leaders for our institutions.

As the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, this pandemic has been particularly traumatizing. With this lockdown triggered by the third wave, the sector is worried about the recovery of various sectors as this will impact how students in training will access attachment/internship and apprenticeship opportunities. The slowed down movement of goods and services directly affects the Micro/Small/Medium Enterprises and thus young graduates who complete vocational training will struggle to get entry points into self-employment.

For us in policy, we have to ensure our vocational training  system is resilient.  The pandemic came in the midst of a turnaround strategy. For years Technical and Vocational Training in Kenya was viewed as the purview for failures and the sector saw diminished student enrolment.  Funding gaps saw institutions struggle to keep vocational training affordable and this affected access to training.  Developments and technological advancement  in industry also exacerbated the divide between training and industry. The blossoming of private sector unregulated training in reaction to the gaps in the industry-training linkage has led to a growth in apprenticeship and other forms of training which are unacknowledged by the regulators. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance is excited that the Kenya National Qualifications Authority is now rolling out the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Framework which will enable millions of young people to have their work experience recognised and equated.