Kenya’s troubling fixation with technical and vocational institutions

South African workers demonstrate in Johannesburg as part of a nationwide strike. South Africa's economy added 193,000 jobs in the third quarter, bringing the unemployment rate down to 25 per cent, the government said. AFP 

 

In Summary

• There seems to be a near consensus that a big part of the solution must involve expansion of spaces for vocational and technical training. 
• The few cases of successful technical education cited tend to be in selected European countries that can support these schools due to their affluence emerging from huge industrial success. 

 

By Kwame Owino
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Ask many informed Kenyans about jobs and the probable answer is that unemployment rates are far too high. The reasoning behind this is that government has failed to provide sufficient funding for entrepreneurship and that the education curriculum in Kenya is unsuited for the job market.

Added to the argument is that changes in the education system altered the quality of graduates at all levels and thereby stifled employment creation.

Focusing on solutions, there seems to be a near consensus that a big part of the solution must involve expansion of spaces for vocational and technical training. Like most urban legends, this assertion has been repeated so often that it is taken for granted as a grand solution to the problem of unemployment in Kenya. Although it is simple to communicate, it is completely wrong.

The high affinity for vocational and technical training often hinges on the claim that this training improves employability for the graduates. By extension therefore, the high rates of unemployment represent a shortage of the skills that are more likely to be imparted by this type of institution.

To start with, the belief that training in polytechnics or other vocational work represent a higher level of skills transfer is untrue. The belief that building and reviving vocational training centers in the counties and at national level will provide better skills for industrial development is strongly held but lacking in evidence. Instead, the rush to construct youth polytechnics and other vocational centers will merely ensure that more Kenyans undergo training in one subject or another without proof that these are real avenues to improved chances for employment.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced a reform measure to Kenya’s secondary education. This confirms the fixation with vocational education by introducing a second track allowing students to pursue technical education as a substitute for the conventional secondary school curriculum. This is a popular measure and some parents will enroll pupils into the alternative track. Acknowledging that declared policy in Kenya guarantees a subvention for tuition, part of the cost for providing vocational training at post-secondary schools will be borne by public funds.

With knowledge that the bulk of the funds dedicated to education at the secondary schools level is paid through the public sector, it becomes necessary to unpack the bold claims being made about the value of vocational training. In a survey of the few and sometimes dated evaluations of the Technical and Vocational Training (TIVET) institutions in countries comparable to Kenya, it emerges that there are no distinct advantages that result from this training.

One troubling issue with the insistence on the magic of vocational training is not only the fact that developing country examples of success with this policy are unavailable, but also that this form of training is often more expensive than typical secondary school education. It means therefore that the advocates for increased expenditure on the development of these schools are ignoring the fact that TIVET institutions are not the most cost effective means for providing education for Kenya’s youth. 

What seems to be happening here is that policy faith regarding reintroduction of vocational training at the secondary schools level is far ahead of the policy substance. Before Kenya embarks on a dual track of secondary school education by introduction of a separate curriculum for these schools, it may help to agree on what benchmarks will be used for judging success.

I remain a skeptic because the few cases of successful technical education that are cited tend to be in selected European countries that are able to support the existence of these schools due to their affluence emerging from huge industrial success. Partiality towards technical education schools in Kenya should be stated for what it is. There is no evidence that they are effective for creating jobs, but some powerful advocates and policy makers are enamored with them. Thus policy faith trumps policy substance.