TVET Colleges set to re-open in September

Speaking during a consultative meeting with principals of TVET colleges from the Coastal region at the Coast Institute of Technology in Voi, Taita Taveta County on Wednesday, Prof Magoha and other senior officers in the ministry took through the heads of institutions the protocols they are expected to adhere before their colleges can be allowed to re-open.

Below are the key highlights of each leader’s speech.

– The government is set to re-open TVET colleges in September if the institutions comply with all the protocols prepared by the Ministry of Education and Health

– Once given green light to re-open, the academic heads will have to agree on the students who will be allowed in college and consider to hold training for some classes in shifts

– Priority to be given to final year classes

– Some training can be conducted online depending on the nature of the course and in adherence to ODeL standards prepared by TVETA

– Those institutions with unfinished infrastructure must be completed before they can re-open

– No establishment of new institutions

– Colleges with boarding facilities to ensure they have complied with social distancing protocols in class, dining areas, and hostels

– President Uhuru Kenyatta has empowered all principals of colleges to work with county governments, chiefs and county commissioners to recruit and admit as many young people as possible to join TVET institutions

– Government is going to avail capitation funds and loans for all the students admitted by KUCCPS

– The government will continue to provide funding to improve facilities in all institutions, provide equipment and recruit adequate trainers

– The principals to lay strategies to recruit the more than 400,000 students who sit for their KCSE exam every year

– The principals to manage efficiently the resources allocated to their institutions and the ones they generate from fees and projects

– The government is now focussing on TVET because the success of Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) depends on TVET training since 60 per cent of the graduates from basic education are expected to transit to TVET

– The government will continue allocating capitation fee of Sh30,000 to students admitted to TVET colleges by KUCCPS. Principals to ensure that they give students receipts to these students once the funds are received

– TVETA has migrated the accreditation of trainers and institutions to the new MIS portal MIS.tveta.go.ke

– TVETA will work with other government agencies to ensure colleges have complied with quality assurance requirements, besides the health protocols before colleges can be allowed to re-open

– The Authority has developed a training manual on leadership and governance for managers of colleges

– The Authority will open three new regional offices this financial year so can to engage closely to Kenyans and also take services closer to the clients.

– The offices will be opened in Kisumu City to serve Western region, Eldoret town for the wider Rift Valley region and Mombasa City to serve the entire Coastal region. Nairobi, Central and Eastern region will continue to be served by the Nairobi office for now.