Authority roots for in-firm training to build local skills

Plastic Packing Industries managing director Mary Ngechu and Strathmore Business School officials during a visit by International Labour Organisation delegates from various countries this year. “The apprentice model is ideal for training engineers technicians and operators.” PHOTO | SALTON NJAU | NMG

What you need to know:

  • The National Industrial Training Authority wants manufacturers’ in-house training modules recognised as skills-based practical certification programmes.
  • The move could kill two birds with one stone: It would do away with the need for those seeking skills to go to colleges, while also providing qualified manpower, eliminate the need for internship

A new proposal could change the way Kenya trains its workforce, if fully adopted. Under the plan, factories will be allowed to come up with training programmes based on salary levels after which qualifiers will be awarded certificates.

The move will kill two birds with one stone: It will do away with the need for those seeking skills to go to colleges while providing qualified manpower. It could also eliminate the need for internship.

The National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) now wants manufacturers’ in-house training modules recognised as skills-based practical certification programmes.

The authority’s national co-ordinator for industrial attachments, Mr Henry Simiyu, said they are allowing companies with unique machinery to formulate training curricula that could be replicated in other industries and certification issued by NITA based on a firm’s approved salary scale, from levels 1 to 10.

Addressing a delegation of 40 Labour ministry and trade union officials from 14 African countries, Mr Simiyu said this would motivate young people to pursue learning within their work environment, which would also lead to higher salaries upon certification.

“Industries have a higher role to play to redefine the Kenyan skills development space as some workers with low academic credentials acquire more experience from their daily tasks that, if remunerated, could generate more committed and productive workers,” he said.

Central Organisations of Trade Unions representative Ouma Olago said Kenya lacks a clear-cut remunerative ladder for highly experienced workers who gain experience within their line of work that exceeded their academic qualifications.

“Even in the medical profession, we have clinical officers who are able to carry out surgeries but have reached the peak of their remunerative ladder. We should recognise their skills by paying them more, thereby encouraging on-the-job training?” he posed.

The forum titled, ‘Learning Forum on Quality Apprenticeships’, heard that NITA has allowed individual companies to seek its nod in creating a remunerative scale from levels 1 to 10 for their staff who acquire industry-specific skills during their course of work.

The forum heard that NITA-industry collaboration had generated interest among young people keen on gaining employable skills that were recognised by law, where training institutions could also be roped in to inject their input on refining the quality of apprentices at certain levels.

The move could see Kenya fast-track creation of a skilled pool of workers for emerging professions such as mining, IT and industrial setups where machines are computer-operated.

Base Titanium’s Systems and External Development Training officer Joan Kago said they took up the apprenticeship method since no institution offered mining-related courses.

“We trained 20 people whom we absorbed to become trainers of trainers while carrying out their daily chores. Ten more will graduate next month, during which we plan to enrol 24 others for the diploma mining course. We have also agreed with Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) to allow us to enrol graduate trainees for managerial roles in mining. We have offered to take in a group of TUM tutors for a three-month full-time course on mining ahead of TUM launching diploma and degree mining-related courses,” she said, adding that eight degree holders had agreed to enrol for the 18-month course.

The forum, organised by International Labour Organisation (ILO), seeks to promote quality apprenticeships as a top priority for individual African countries as it helps the youth move into decent well-paying jobs where enterprises also benefit from availability of affordable locally trained workforce.

ILO’s head of the skills and employability branch, Mr Girma Agune, urged the Kenyan government and private companies to recognise the NITA certification, which gave them an avenue to create jobs as well as have their facilities used as training hubs.

“Quality apprenticeship systems combine classroom and workplace learning, which helps ease the shortage of skills in the labour market and creates a linkage between technical institutions and industry, thereby reducing incidents where graduate youths are unemployable. I also urge industries to adopt a safety and health approach in their training as this will nurture better work environments that generate higher production at lower input cost,” said Mr Agune.

Similar sentiments were aired last week by German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which offered Kenya’s Technical and Vocational Training Educational Authority (TVETA) technical assistance to create an industry-led review of all academic programmes in the country’s technical and vocational institutes with key emphasis on efficiency, innovation and environmental protection.

A key proponent for apprenticeship, Mrs Mary Ngechu, who is the managing director of Plast Packaging Ltd, said they chose the apprentice training model as there were no local engineers, technicians or operators for their Japanese, Taiwan and India-made machines.

“We now have engineers flying into Kenya to offer two weeks to six months hands-on training to our employees, who at the end are issued with certificates that enable us to remunerate them better. It is these employees that become trainers of trainers for low cadre staff that use the machines daily. This has helped us reduce downturns, achieve higher production and enjoy better worker-employer relations,” she said.

Plast Packaging Ltd also offers 22 internships for locally trained college graduates for business and skills development.

KIE managing director Parmain ole Narikae said many companies were under incubation at their 37 branches and those that have since excelled are encouraged to launch business specific skills training programmes to enable young people acquire employable skills in East Africa.