Technical, Vocational Education and Training in Kenya: Philosophical

and Sociological Overview

Sisimwo Joshua S
School of Education,
Moi University P.O Box 3900 Eldoret, Kenya
Corresponding authors E-mail: joshuasisimwo@yahoo.com

Abstract
While assessing the philosophy and sociology of TVET in the Kenyan school system, it is
evident that the impact of the philosophy has not been felt in the society. By now, Kenya
should have been competing favourably with the tiger countries of south East Asia,
whose economic and socio-cultural outlook was not very much different at the time of
independence. Today, it is unfortunate to mention that unemployment and poverty levels
seem to be on the increase in the country. This is despite the concern for national
development on the need to improve the quality of life of its citizens. How can the
country achieve this task when the philosophy of vocational education is not adequately
implemented? The sociological influence of the society on vocational education has made
the matter worse. Vocational education has remained a second choice discipline in terms
of societal recognition, adequate funding and students choice. It is in view of this fact
that this paper presents a critique based view of the various aspects of the philosophy of
TVET. It also analyses the influence of the society on this profession. The paper
concludes by making recommendations on how vocational education in Kenya can be
propelled.
Key words: Technical, Vocational, Philosophical, Sociological
Introduction
Technical and Vocational Education is defined by different authors in different ways.
Okoro (1999) defined vocational education as all those experiences whereby an
individual learns to carry on successfully any useful occupation. Kerre (1996) defined
vocational education as skill-based programs designed for lower level of education and
focuses on a specific trade for workplace entry. Technical education, on the other hand,
facilitates the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic technical and
scientific knowledge, (UNESCO, 2006). The major difference between the two terms is
that, whereas vocational education is designed for a particular trade, technical education
does not target any particular trade but gives general technical knowledge. Technical and
Vocational Education is the merging between Technical Education and Vocational

Education i.e. the inclusion of basic technical and scientific knowledge with the skillbased vocational programs.
In the views of Thompson (2002), vocational education aims at the development of
human abilities in terms of knowledge, skills and understanding so efficiently in carrying
on the activities in the vocational pursuits of his choice. Winer (2000) in his contribution
opined that vocational education is designed to develop skills, abilities, understanding
attitudes, work habits and appreciation encompassing knowledge and information needed
by workers to enter and make progress in employment on a useful and productive basis. It
is an integral part of the general education program and is a means of preparing for
occupational fields for effective participation in the world of work (Kerre, 1999).
For vocational education to be beneficial to the masses, it should not be operated in
complete isolation. It should be placed in line with other conditions which will help
learners and stakeholders in education to be practical and not only theoretical in their
approach. Ezekiel, (2009) asserts that the appreciation of dignity to work, utility and
culture in vocational education and the needs of the society are some of these factors. He
further states that it is important to put into consideration the plight of school dropouts,
the economics of vocational education and the basic needs of the citizenry.
Overview of TVET Development in Kenya
After independence, the Ominde Commission was appointed. The Ominde Report of
1964 had the recommendations that the curriculum should be revised to make it more
relevant to the Kenyan child. It also recommended that more emphasis be placed on
practical subjects. Additionally, it recommended that education should be planned in
relation to employment opportunities (Okech & Asiachi, 1992). Technical secondary
schools were established in the 60s following the recommendations of this Commission.
This was achieved by converting existing Trade Schools into Technical Secondary
Schools. Secondly additional institutions were built across the country.
The Gachathi Commission of 1976 resulted in a report that addressed the issue of
national development and educational objectives. It redefined the Ominde Report and

promoted a number of educational objectives (Okech &Asiachi, 1992). It recommended

that there was a need to revise the general school curriculum to make it more practically
oriented. It also recommended that there was a need to extend primary education from
seven to nine years, and abolish two extra years of secondary school, thus leaving only
four. It was from this reports recommendation that the third and fourth development
plans were mooted. The third developmental plan emphasised, among other things, the
teaching of vocational subjects in the technical, agricultural and business fields.
The government appointed a working party for the establishment of a second university
in Kenya, the Mackay Commission of 1981 (Okech & Asiachi, 1992). The university was
to be technology-based, which was a useful step towards rationalizing vocational
education and training. It recommended change to the education structure from 7:4:2:3 to
8:4:4, which was implemented in 1985. The introduction of the 8-4-4 system was one of
the most radical attempted educational reforms in the country. A major goal of this
system was to produce self-reliant individuals who could fit easily into any working
condition. Vocational subjects were proposed to be introduced in primary and secondary
schools to meet this goal (Kitainge, 2003). Another change was the conversion of the
former technical secondary schools to technical training institutes. In the mid 80s the
government took the decision to convert the technical secondary schools to tertiary
institutes where their contribution to national training pool was expected to be more
relevant. In addition the government also took over the institutions that were built by
communities around the country through Harambee effort to provide TVET education in
their communities. TVET in the early 80s received major focus from the government.
The country faced a serious shortage of employment and the leadership felt that skilled
training could be the panacea to the problem. In tandem with stimulating the informal
sector, the government re-introduced technical education within the newly established 84-4 curriculum. This initiative required all schools in the country, both primary and
secondary, to establish appropriate facilities through community effort, for the teaching of
vocational subjects. These were to be compulsory and would be tested by the Kenya
National Examination Council (Kitainge, 2003).

Accordingly, Ferej (2000) asserts that the initiative created major implementation
problems. Most schools, especially in the rural areas could not afford the cost of putting
up the necessary infrastructure while the government itself could not produce adequate
teachers in time. Eventually the cost of providing teaching and learning materials become
too difficult to sustain for most schools. There was outrage over the large number of
examinable subjects that students were being exposed to. The review of the curriculum
was done and eventually vocational subjects were made optional. Even though the new
system was a boost to vocational education as emphasis was placed for its provision at
both primary and secondary levels, the costs of construction of workshops, equipment,
teaching and learning requirements were too heavy on parents as they were required to
avail these under the policy of cost sharing (Ferej, 2000).
In 1998, the Koech commission was appointed to review the state of affairs under the
8:4:4 system of education. The recommendations of this commission were never
officially implemented. However, in 2000, the Minister of Education and Human
Resource Development announced that, in both primary and secondary schools, the
number of examinable subjects were to be reduced, starting from January 2001.
Current status of TVET in Kenya
Formal TVET programmes in Kenya are school-based and are offered at both schools and
technical training colleges. The Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 provides for the education
and training of technical personnel and their progression from one level of skill and
technical knowledge to the next. From the Sessional Paper No. 1 and the TVET policy
framework, technicians will be produced from the technical training colleges. The
duration of school-based technical and vocational education is between one and three
years. Besides the technical training colleges, the current primary and secondary
education curriculum provides for vocational skills to young people in primary and
secondary school schools. Some specialized vocational training programmes however
also exist in various ministries and fall under the supervision of the respective sector
ministries. TVET in Kenya is delivered by both government and private providers, which
include for-profit and non-profit, NGO and Church-based institutions.

The TVET sector in Kenya currently includes two (2) technical universities, two (2)
national polytechnics, one (1) technical teachers college, twenty-six (26) technical
training institutes (TTIs) and seventeen (17) institutes of technology (ITs) under the
Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology (MoHEST). The MoHEST has
also established 10 new National polytechnic and 13 new technical colleges. The
Ministry is also establishing 11 Centres of Excellence specializing in various disciplines.
In addition, the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Development (MoLHRD)
manages three (3) Industrial Training Centres, one (1) vocational training centre, and the
Kenya Textile Training Institute. There are 697 Youth Polytechnics (YPs) (MoLHRD:
2005), currently under the Ministry of Youth Affairs (MoYA). There are also 87 other
institutions spread in 15 other Ministries and about 1,000 vocational training institutions
under private, commercial, civil society and faith organizations including some companybased training. The main thrust in this policy is to promote better collaboration and
quality control in TVET and encourage TVET institutions across the country. The
government developed a blue print to establish an independent TVET authority that was
approved by the Legislature. The umbrella body would coordinate all TVET activities
under one organization known as TIVET Authority or in short TIVETA. There are also
initiatives to improve the Youth Polytechnics to bring them to standards that would
enable them to provide training to post-secondary applicants. In the past they catered
mostly to primary school leavers.
Philosophical concepts of TVET
Hornby (2000) defines philosophy as a particular set or system of beliefs resulting from
the search for knowledge about life and the universe. The major philosophy of
vocational technical education from the Technical, Vocational, Education and Training
policy of 2012 is to produce a critical mass of well trained human Resources to
implement programmes and projects identified in Kenyas Vision 2030.
Various scholars have suggested philosophies that can be applied in Technical and
Vocational Education (TVE). Okorie (2001) for instance, suggests that the occupational
choice of individuals should be based on the orientation of the individual such as

interests, aptitude and ability. He goes further to state that each individual should have the
opportunity to select an occupation in harmony with his orientation and the opportunities
for employment in that occupation. Additionally, Okorie informs that the resources for
education must be provided to develop all human resources otherwise; some individuals
may possibly menace other individuals. He finally concludes by stating that the allocation
of resources must reflect the needs of people.
Another philosophy of TVET is stated by Prosser (1949). Prosser argues that for TVET to
be effective, the training should be fashioned in the same way, same operations using the
same tools and machines in respect of the occupation being prepared. Additionally, he
opines that TVET is effective to the extent that the individual is trained directly and
specifically in the thinking and manipulative habits required in the desired occupation.
Prosser further states that the environment in which the trainee is prepared should
resemble the environment he must eventually get employed in. Lastly, his philosophy
holds that for every occupation, there is a minimum level of preparation needed in order
to enable the trainees obtain and retain employment in that occupation and if the
preparation is not attained up to that level, the occupation will neither benefit the trainee
nor the society.
Philosophical context of TVET in Kenya
The Government of Kenya has developed key policy documents over the last ten (10)
years; Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP) of September 2002 and its successor the
Economic Recovery Strategy Programme (ERS) of 2003, the Vision 2030 of 2008 and
the TVET policy of 2012; they all emphasize the importance of education in
development. Currently, TVET is practiced under the following levels; Artisan level in
Youth Polytechnics and on-the-job training in the formal sector and informal sector (Jua
Kali apprentices), Craft level in Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) and Institutes of
Technology (ITs), Technician level in Polytechnics and a few selected TTIs and
Technologists in the Technical Universities.
In all the above levels of TVET, it is important to note that their philosophies are quite
similar, only with a little difference. Therefore, the extent of implementation of their

philosophies will be analysed holistically. In all TVET levels, the philosophy of Prosser
that for TVET to be effective, the training should be fashioned in the same way, same
operations using the same tools and machines in respect of the occupation being
prepared, have not been accomplished.
In the school system today, the training received by learners is quite different from what
they will meet after graduation. Technical and Vocational teachers now turn the
programmes into a literary kind of education where mostly theoretical aspects of
vocational education are taught to the detriment of the practical aspects. In addition, there
are few qualified TVET teachers. Most of those that are on the job were not perfectly
taught practical in their school days so that is why the problem is a vicious cycle. The
over-riding requirement for practical is the ability of the learner to be able to do the job
rather than to talk about it only. According to Chauhan (1983), the job and competence of
any craftsman are measured by what he can do as against how well he can describe what
he can do. Practical in vocational technical training are found in many subject areas such
as: woodwork, metal work, building construction, tailoring and dress making, plumbing,
electrical installation, carpentry and joinery, furniture making, motor vehicle mechanics
among others. Studies have revealed that the degree of the contributions made by
educated people on the job is dependent upon the degree of the appropriateness of the
vocational training (Nneji, 1997).
In the Soviet Union, TVET receives much attention of the government, training
institutions and industries. As a consequence, the curriculum, method of training, staffing,
equipment is carefully developed to ensure a high standard and appropriate vocational
training (Osuala, 2004). Ike (2004) revealed that as much as 72 percent of the time
allotted to the training of vocational technical students is given to practical training to
ensure that the vocational technical graduates perform well on the job. In the United
States and Germany (Nwaokolo, 2003), the emphasis is the same. In contrast to this, the
method of vocational training in Kenya is classroom oriented. Vocational training in
Kenya lacks practical orientation. The poor vocational training in Kenya can be attributed
to the lack of industrial base; hence much of the vocational training is the theoretical. In
the areas of tools and machines, it is a different case altogether. The tools in the school

workshops are at variance with the tools in the industries where the graduates will work.
Tools and machines in school workshop are usually short in supply, obsoletes and nonfunctional and cannot meet the facility requirements of the schools and colleges. The
impact of inadequate educational facilities is that training of the students becomes
impeded and they end up not acquiring skills to go into the labour market.
According to the second philosophy of Prosser, TVET is effective to the extent that the
individual is trained directly and specifically in the thinking and manipulative habits
required in the desired occupation. To a great extent, this philosophy is realizable in the
technical colleges where the modular approach of curriculum is practiced. The students
are trained on the various tasks comprising the operations of the job. Prossers philosophy
can be applied with Competency Based Training (CBT) in TVET. CBT is a type of
instruction where learners are taught a specific skill, evaluated on the same skill then
given certificates of the said skill before proceeding to higher levels. The training here is
in modular form. For instance students of automotive engineering can choose auto body
repair as a module. They will be trained in the thinking and manipulative habits required
in auto body repair. The duration of the programme is determined by the instructors. After
the completion of the programme they are awarded a certificate in auto body repair. Other
modules could be battery charging, engine overhaul, loosing and fixing a tyre in a car etc.
This modular or competency curriculum has not been implemented as it supposed to be.
Due to the high enrollments and lack of adequate instructors, CBT in Kenyan TVET
institutions may not be achieved.
Prosser, in his philosophy further adds that the environment in which the trainee is
prepared should resemble the environment he must surely get employed in. In Kenya
today, this philosophy is still far from being realized. Facilities like classrooms,
workshops, laboratories, studios, equipment and materials are grossly inadequate in our
schools and colleges. The difficulty in the procurement of facilities does not give room
for the practical acquisition of skills by learners. On contrast, private TVET institutions
offer students with environments which may be a replica of the work place. This could be
due to the fact the tuition charges of these institutions is usually higher than those of the
governments institutions. As a result of this, we find that there is a big disparity between

the graduates of these institutions. In addition, due to the skewed nature of development
in the country, some parts do not have basic infrastructure like electricity supply. This is a
true case of a typical rural area in Kenya. Without this basic infrastructure, definitely the
working environment of the present world will be quite different from the training
environment of the students. However, with the county governments in place, the skewed
nature of the country may be a thing of the past thereby encouraging the supply of some
of these basic requirements. Therefore, the environment in which the students are trained
may be quite similar with that of the industries where they will work because the
industries are equipped with modern hand tools and machines (Idirisu, 2007).
Prosser continues to states that, for every occupation, there is a minimum level of
preparation needed in order to enable the trainees obtain and retain employment in that
occupation and if the preparation is not attained up to that level, the occupation will
neither benefit the trainee nor the society. Applying this philosophy to our present
TVET, it signifies that nearly all our TVET programmes offer outdated skills to our
students. For instance, automotive engineering students are still taught about carburetors
yet most vehicles on our roads are of Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) systems. However,
in addressing the challenges faced by Technical Education Programs (TEP) the Kenya
Institute of Education (KIE) suggested a TIVET curriculum review. This, the institute
thought, would enable the government to attain the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), the industrialization target by the year 2020 and the vision 2030 which TIVET
has been identified as critical in realizing its pillars in the economic, social and political
contexts. The society recognizes the fact that every citizen should be equipped with skills
to contribute effectively to the welfare of the society. The highest possible welfare is
achieved only when each individual produces to the limit of his capacity. For this reason,
Ezekiel & Usoroh (2009) assert that the necessity for equipping each citizen with saleable
skills for life-long endeavors is a fact that even the most primitive society has recognized.
The minimum level of preparation for vocational education is not satisfactory; therefore,
vocational education can neither benefit the trainee nor the Kenyan society. This is the
reason why the country is backward in technology breakthrough and emancipation.
The sociological context of TVET in Kenya

According to Hornby (2000), sociology is the scientific study of the nature and
development of society and social behavior. In the opinion of the author of this paper,
sociological overview of TVET is the societal opinion about Technical and Vocational
Education and Training. The importance of vocational education in sociological point of
view cannot be undermined. Poverty, unemployment, adult crime and the 2007- 2008
post election violence highlighted the problems of a large population of unskilled
populace lacking Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Kenya. Some
activists, professionals and researchers have all stressed the importance of TVET. They
have been convinced of the broad social value of TVET that ascribe most social ills to
vocational incompetence and therefore, conclude that TVET is an answer to many of
them; for example, unemployment the alienation of youth and lack of respect for social
institutions
Access to Technical and Vocational Education
Enrolment rate in vocational technical education programmes are low. People prefer
courses in general education that will prepare them for professions like law, medicine,
pharmacy, nursing, engineering etc. with apathy to vocational technical education. In
2010 for instance, 357,488 candidates took the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
(KCSE) Examination. Of this number 97,137 obtained the minimum requirement for
University admission at C+. The public universities in that year admitted 32,000 students
while the private universities admitted another 10,000 students. In 2011 the enrolment in
public TVET institutions was 60,000 with the annual intake being roughly 25,000. Other
middle colleges in the public and private sectors are estimated to have admitted another
75,000 students. Thus of the 357,488 KCSE candidates in 2010 only 142,000, or 40%
could find opportunities for further or higher education. The rest 215,488 or 60%
effectively have been left without any training. This is a relatively huge number of young
people to be left without any training. There is no doubt that this constitutes a huge loss
to the national economy.
It is the authors opinion that the impact of general education from the colonial masters is
still in peoples mindset today. The reason is that the Kenyan value system and

orientation is tilted towards general education. Most people choose an occupation

because of social status and prestige in their community as well as opting to satisfy their
friends and associates undermining their aptitude for the course. Students loss of interest
and apathy towards manual work can be attributed to societys apathy towards manual
work. This is similar to with Olaitan (1996) assertion that in the Nigerian society of our
time regards vocational/technical education as a form of education meant for people who
are backward academically, and as such, there is a general apathy towards manual work,
even though the current high rate of unemployment should teach otherwise.
Conclusion
The TVET philosophy in Kenya is very laudable. The main purpose of the philosophy is
to give training and impart the necessary skills to individual who shall be self-reliant
economically. The extent of implementation of this philosophy leaves much to be desired.
There are so many challenges facing the implementation of the philosophy in TVET
institutions. These are insufficient qualified TVET teachers, hand tools, machines and
materials; poor image and status of TVET graduates, inadequate funding, and societal
preference of general education to mention but a few. However, government intervention
in providing human and infrastructural resources will give vocational technical education
a facelift philosophically, sociologically and psychologically.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made in order to achieve the philosophy of
vocational technical education:
1) The central government and the respective county governments should provide
adequate funds to the TVET institutions. This will assist in procuring new
teaching equipments that are in tandem with those available in the industry.
2) Curriculum experts in TVET need to review and evaluate the current TVET
curriculum to make it more practical oriented and reduce its emphasis on theory.

3) TVET institutions should liaise with established industry while training the
graduates to ensure that the students are trained with skills that match industry
demands
4) There should be a central body that regulates the training, assessment and
certification of TVET graduates. This will ensure uniformity of TVET graduates
in the country in terms of theoretical skills and practical orientation.
5) The society should be enlightened on the important role TVET plays in its
development. Through this, the negative perception of TVET graduates may be
done away with.
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