Safaricom Foundation’s TVET Programme Kicks Off With Online Learning

300 students who have been shortlisted for Safaricom Foundation’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme will begin online classes on 22^nd June.

The Foundation has partnered with Zizi Afrique Foundation and ToolKit iSkills, a social enterprise organisation, to roll out a TVET programme with a focus on Plumbing, Welding, Food and Beverage and Electrical Engineering.

Over 70 students who do not have access to smartphones will receive free devices courtesy of Safaricom Foundation to enable them access eLearning materials as they await re-opening of learning institutions.

“We want to empower the students who have been shortlisted for the Safaricom Foundation TVET scholarship programme to commence learning even as we wait for this Covid-19 period to end. The students who have been enrolled for the programme have not been able to attend classes because of the partial lockdown and we want to enable them begin classes via online platforms”, Said Steve Chege, Trustee, Safaricom Foundation.

The programme that was launched in March will see an ICT enabled Skills Center set up in Nairobi’s Waithaka Vocational Training Centre and close to 1,000 students receive TVET scholarships over the next two years across various institutions.

“Through this scholarship programme, we want to reach some of the most vulnerable youth from across the country and give them access to training opportunities in employable areas, and increase transition to employment”, said Renaldah Mjomba from Zizi Afrique.

The first cohort consists of 100 students who will be based at the Waithaka Vocational Training Centre and another 200 who will be spread across 12 other institutions around the country.

An analysis by Higher Education Loans Board shows that employability is at 96 % for people with Technical and Vocational Education and Training compared to 40 percent among those with a university degree. However, TVET participation remains low with enrolment standing at only 60 %.