Management Practices and Sustainability of Training Programs: A Case of Digital Skills Training Projects in Kibera Slums, Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Youth unemployment is a subject of great concern in the developing world, particularly in developing nations, and among them is Kenya. These countries are characterized by the high population of youths who make up the majority of the unemployed in the nation. Governments and non-profit organizations are partnering to eradicate poverty and unemployment among the youth. To achieve this, novel ways, such as promoting digital skills training programs such as WFP's EMPACT and the Ajira. This research sought to address these shortages by analyzing the management practices and sustainability of training programs on WFP's EMPACT and the Ajira Digital skills training project in Kibera. It used a systematic sampling method of data collection accompanied by questionnaires. The results from this research will give a starting point for understanding the project's potential in Kenya and not just in Kibera. It will also provide insights and recommendations for the project's second phase by the Ministry of Planning in its efforts to use digital skills to end youth unemployment in the country. This study aimed to assess management practices and the sustainability of training programs. It was a case study that involved two training programs i.e. Ajira Digital training program and WFP’s EMPACT. Data was collected in Kibera slums in Nairobi City County. Its main objectives were to investigate how stakeholder participation affects the viability of digital skills development programs in Kibera slums, to ascertain how risk management strategies affect the viability of programs for teaching digital skills in Kibera slums, to establish the impact of evaluation and monitoring on the sustainability of the programs for teaching digital skills in Kibera and to examine how budgeting affects the viability of initiatives for teaching digital skills in Kibera slums. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The questions were close-ended. Data collected was examined systematically and then carefully analysed using EXCEL and SPSS. From the descriptive statistics results it was found out most of the respondents agreed to a great extent that leadership skills, project communications, resource allocation and cost management skills have an influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs a case of digital skills training projects in Kibera slums, Nairobi city county, Kenya. From the regression analysis it was revealed that leadership skills have a positive (B=.283), project communication has a negative (B=-112), resource allocation has a positive (B=0.496) and finally cost management skills have a positive (B=0.449) influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs a case of digital skills training projects in Kibera slums, Nairobi city county, Kenya. The overall model was considered first to explain the sustainability of digital training programs. The study therefore concluded that leadership skills have a significant and positive influence on the sustainability of digital training programs project communication has a negative but insignificant influence on the sustainability of digital training programs resource allocation has a positive and significant influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs that cost management skills positively and significantly influence sustainability of the digital training programs. The study recommends that management skills (leadership skills, project communication, resource and allocation and cost management skills ought to be considered as significantly influencing the sustainability of digital training programs.