Effectiveness of Industrial Attachment Exposure in Developing Trainees’ Employability Skills from TVET Institutions in Nairobi County

Abstract

Lack of relevant and adequate data on the effectiveness of industrial attachment exposure and employability skills of trainees in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Nairobi and the mismatch of skills needed by labour market and those acquired by TVET trainees. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of industrial attachment exposure in developing the employability skills of trainees in TVET institutions in Nairobi County. The study was guided by the Skills Acquisition Theory and adopted the mixed research methodology. Researcher used the concurrent triangulation design. The target population was 3,940 participants which included 3,480 trainees, 174 liaison officers, 261 trainers and 25 supervisors. The sample size was 230 participants. These were:180 trainees, 20 liaison officers, 10 industry supervisors and 20 trainers. Random sampling was used to select the trainees and the trainers, while purposive sampling was used to select the liaison officers and the industry supervisors. Questionnaires were used to collect information from the trainees and liaison officers. Interview guides were administered to the industry supervisors, while focused group discussion was used to collect information from the trainers. Questionnaires were used for data collection and were content and face validated, then their reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha. Alpha value of 0.800 was achieved and the tools were judged reliable. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (the Chi-square test) and presented in tables, frequencies, percentages. Qualitative data was presented thematically through narrative and analysis. Findings from the study established that industrial attachment exposures influenced the development of employability skills. The study thus recommended harmonization on the level of skills exposure during attachment with TVET programmes/course content. The study further recommended the need for TVET institutions and the industries to work together to strengthen skills exposure in line with industrial attachment general guidelines.