By Ezekiel Wamalwa Kuloba
The Ministry of Education’s initiative to subsidize Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is encouraging.
Its broad aim is to ensure all Kenyan youth’s access higher Education.
Our society blatantly brands children who score Ds and Es as academic failures whose intellectual capabilities are low with zero chances of “making it in life.”
The clamor for a new education curriculum in the country was informed by the not so farfetched perception that the current system is overly burdensome on students; emphasizing academic excellence at the expense of appropriate technical skills crucial for the 21st century needs.
This is why efforts by the government to make TVET accessible to a great majority of our young people should be encouraged.
If well implemented, Kenya stands a good chance of being a “skills-exporter” to the rest of the world.
This is a pragmatic way of ending brain drain in Kenya.
Cases of Kenyan youth being killed and mistreated in Arab Country’s led by Saudi Arabia will end.
According to the new government initiative, students who fail to score “good grades” are given opportunities to join TVET centers whereby government subsidizes their fees.
Fixed at Ksh56, 000, the government offers capitation at Ksh30, 000 while students are expected to pay the balance of ksh26, 000.
The latter is supposed to be financed either by capable parents/guardians or in needy cases, a government loan from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
This arrangement is good and godsend for thousands of Kenyan students who rarely make it through High School.
However, there are a number of challenges that should be addressed early to ensure the plan succeeds.
First of all, bureaucracy often causes delays in the disbursement of HELB loans.
In the past, loan beneficiaries were allocated and given funds before reporting to school in order to enable them register and start classes.
Currently there is a huge disconnect between the channeling of funds into students’ accounts and the commencement of semesters.
This is a challenge especially to poor students who rely on bursaries.
Secondly learning institutions do not wait for students who fail to raise fees on time.
This means students who secured admission but do not get funds on time fail to report to colleges while those who manage to be admitted occasionally miss taking exams for “lack of examination fees.”
This is a problem rampant not only at the national TVET institutions but also in Universities.
Thirdly, although government loan is good and appropriate for helping students further their studies, it is a potential source of economic oppression in the long run.
HELB gives just one year after completion of a chosen program for the students to start repaying their loans.
Failure to honor this often leads to monthly penalties and for the unfortunate victims of such an arrangement, this leads to stress.
The student’s details will always be referred to the Credit Referencing Bureau (CRB) and they are blocked from accessing any credit.
Such challenges if not addressed, undermine an otherwise noble government program.
Stakeholders should therefore work together to find lasting solutions.
Learning Institutions should be cognizant of the fact that bureaucracy results in delays and stop locking students out of classrooms.
On its part, the HELB should work on expediting loans disbursement and have student-friendly terms and conditions.
Students should never be punished for lack of gainful employment.
In any case, unemployment is enough punishment.
Additionally, the government should develop systems and programs that will enable those who exit training institutions to be absorbed in the job market.
Alternatively, let TVET and higher education be absolutely free financed by tax payers or by benevolent transnational organizations.
Ezekiel Wamalwa is a Social/ Political commentator