Whole youth development and employment: Exploring the nexus using qualitative data from a Kenyan study of Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions

Abstract

Investment in sub-Sahara Africa's (SSA’s) youth through effective capacity development, involving adoption of contemporary skills development approaches, is integral in alleviating the region’s high youth unemployment rates as it will equip the youth with skills needed for employment. Skills that are needed are those that holistically develop the youth skills-set, including technical/hard and soft-skills, dubbed whole youth development (WYD) skills. This paper thus explores Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students’ understanding of soft-skills and its development. The paper utilizes data collected from a TVET study in Kenya that was carried in 9 of the 47 counties, targeting learners aged 15–24 years. The selected counties were those that had national polytechnics for national representation, except one (Turkana county), which was selected to represent youth from marginalized counties. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. The findings indicate that there is a good understanding of soft-skills among the targeted respondents, with extra-curricular activities playing a key role in promoting TVET students’ soft-skills. However, inadequate human resource and low level of awareness on soft-skills among instructors contribute to inadequate soft-skills learning. This calls for a concerted effort among key education stakeholders on the development of instructors’ and institutions’ capacities for a plausible soft-skills outcome.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Production of Productive Workforce Graduates: An Incubation Role of Private Sector; A case of selected NACTVET Colleges in Mbeya, Tanzania

“…Theoretical TVET education was revealed by Maurer [20] in Rwanda to transform graduates' mindsets to start and run their businesses. This has been consistent with the behavioral attitudes acquired by form four graduates from technical and vocational colleges in Kenya, who occupy 80% of the informal sector [21]. This has been a reason for Kenya to be a fast-growing country economically.…”

Adoption of Education Technologies for Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Marginalized and Vulnerable Learner Populations in Kenya

“…The two forces—rapid technological advancements and globalization—have offered varied opportunities (e.g., distance/online learning and informational exchange) for human development in the face of an uncertain future, which we must well prepare for (OECD, 2018). Children who joined learning institutions in 2015 for instance, will be young adults in 2030, and the education systems in place must prepare to offer such learners the much needed relevant and quality skills to help navigate future labor force and technologies, to address future problems (Ngware et al, 2019; Ochieng & Ngware, 2021). This must be a collaborative responsibility involving participation of all education stakeholders (learners, schools, and wider community among others).…”

Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Production of Productive Work force Graduates: An Incubation Role of Private Sector; A case of selected NACTVET Colleges in Mbeya, Tanzania

“…Theoretical TVET education revealed by Maurer (2021) in Rwanda to transform graduates mindset for them to start and run own businesses. This has been the consistent case with the behavioral attitudes acquired by form four graduates from technical and vocational colleges in Kenya who made 80% of informal sector being occupied by them (Ochieng & Ngware, 2021). This has been a reason for Kenya to be the fast growing country economically.…”