Technical Education in Kenya: Some Problems

Abstract

One problem is that the term as used in Kenyan embraces a wide range of meaning. At one end of the spectrum, any consultant from abroad, be he a football coach or a tax specialist, is referred to as a adviser. At the other extreme technical education refers to the training of craftsmen, technicians, business administrators, secretaries, agriculturists and the like, personnel who are involved in production in industry. Generally most official reports allude to craftsmen and technicians, without drawing a distinction between the two, when they refer to training; yet others make a distinction between the types trained. Another problem which confronted administrators was raising the quality of given in specialized secondary schools run by the Ministry of Education. The four secondary schools located in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Sigalagala are well equipped. In 1973 these had a total enrollment of 2,215 students. The Wamalwa Commission (1972), however, had cause to complain about the standards of the eight secondary vocational schools which had a total enrollment of 3,718 students in 1973; most of these students left school no terminal qualifications of marketable value. These eight schools which were located at Kabete, Kaiboi, Machakos, Mawengo, Meru, Kisumu, and Nakuru offered only pre-craft training in masonry, carpentry, and the allied trades. Wastage, too, during training was incredibly high in these eight trade schools: out of a total enrollment of 2,036 in 1968 only 1.5 percent entered the fourth and last year of training. The authorities were also faced with a dilemma common to most developing countries: it was vaguely felt that all levels of technicians were needed especially since Kenya relied heavily on expatriate staff. Yet a survey in 1975 revealed that there is a high unemployment rate, 49 percent among Technical High School and 58 percent among Technical Secondary School graduates (Fretwell, 1975: 6). Despite this apparent paradox the official policy was to increase enrollment at all levels of training. Expansion could be accelerated if Kenya, with foreign assistance, could build its first specialized institution for training local teachers.