ON TECHNICAL TRAINING, MOROCCO IS KENYA'S GOOD TEACHER

Tellingly, many steps have been covered in developing, supporting and promoting technical training in Kenya. Policy interventions coupled with high level political support has propelled technical training to the higher scales of Kenya's multi-sectoral discourse. This is highly welcome. 

At last, we are reaffirming to ourselves that national economic progress is inseparable from the technical know-how of our youth – and more so those below university/college cut-off lines.

I am happy for one reason. Many folks out there have waited for long to enjoy this largess and now they have the opportunity to do so. 

However, I have some reservations. I may be wrong. The whole structure and thinking of technical training in Kenya calls for a radical overhaul. Our obsession with raw numbers as opposed to quality and responsiveness to market trends is a big obstacle that, if not corrected now, will deal a deadly blow to any noble step no matter the backing it will get from the officialdom.

Two. We have never come any closer at delinking papers (certifications) from real learning (imparting of knowledge to trainees). Even with the accompanying malaise of "paper qualifications" we see around, our grading criteria remain intact. This is why some of us are questioning the wisdom behind locking out a huge mass of talented chaps roaming our streets and villages just because they possess no "basic certificate." 

A plethora of scholarly writings and policy observations on technical training, demonstrate the primordial role the location of a learning institution has in bridging up regional inequalities and responding to sectoral and specific social dynamics shaping a given society. Kenya has long way to go to cure this imbalance malady.

Which beggars some questions: 1) Is the State aware of the inadequacies of this imbalance to the pastoralist communities of this country? 2) Is there a deliberate move to cure this ailment? 3) If yes, how?

Let me walk you through some best (in my opinion) examples elsewhere. The Kingdom of Morocco comes atop my list. 

Talking about Morocco's progress in technical training, some three aspects come to mind. One, the definition of what goes as technical training. Two, who their target groups are. Three, the rationale of  reaching out to these target groups.

A quick look into their categorisation of technical courses reveals an interesting stream of thoughts defining the national philosophical underpinning on matters of training in general, and target-group empowerment in particular. Here, technical training deals with anything man needs to survive.

Put it differently, they have broadened the definition of technical training to bring into the loop the many works which, according to Kenya's intelligentsia, could pass as "untrainable courses". 

Secondly, training is not paper-oriented. The central pillar is to equip the learner with appropriate skills to earn a decent living. To achieve this, see what they do. All entrance levels are catered for. There are courses for every chap out there. The unschooled (read "the paperless") have their place. Equally, those with papers have their place. 

Arriving at this melange is still a distant mirage for Kenya. Reason? Our creativity starts and ends with papers.

I am no educationist. But my reservations won’t allow me to swallow the untruths peddled out there that technical training revolves around tailoring, carpentry, masonry and mechanics.

Where did we hide our creativity?

 

To build a robust sector, we must redefine our technical training to make it more inclusive and responsive. This over-reliance on paper qualifications is a colonial relic that leaves more harm than good.

Clinging to it is outright discrimination against the paperless, illiterate mass populating our streets and remote corners of this great nation. This is not a procedure of creating jobs. This is a short-cut to self-destruction.

Yes, on technical training, Morocco is Kenya’s good teacher. Let’s reach out to these brothers across the Sahara for help. It is never late.

Lemukol Ng’asike is an Architect. Twitter: @mlemukol.  Email: lemoseh89@gmail.com.