Action-Research to foster labour accessibility for young people with disabilities in Kenya

Title InJob! Pathways to inclusive education and promotion of employability for vulnerable youth in the public vocational training centers

Location Nairobi, Embu, Busia, Kitui, Machakos, Nyamira, Homa Bay, ElgeyoMarakwet, Transnzoia, Kiambu, Muranga, Kilifi, Kwale, TaitaTaveta, Makueni (Kenya)

Duration 3 anni

Project Leader  NO ONE OUT

Partners CBM, Technical and VocationalEducation and TrainingAuthority (TVETA), Companionshipof WorksOrganization (CoWA), Girl Child Network (GCN)

Funding AICS – Italina Agency for Cooperation Development

 

Contesto

The TVET system in Kenya is today a fragmented qualification system which results in a quality of skills acquired by students that are unable to fully meet the expectations of employers. A large number of people develop skills through the traditional apprenticeship program, for which no certifications are obtained and therefore there is no formal recognition of skills.

The Government of Kenya in recent years has promoted and implemented policies and initiatives to address the above concerns and labour accessibility. Among other things, the law on vocational training promotes the formalization of institutions, accreditation, technical certification and has reclassified training institutions and the related administrative competence, dividing them into:

  • Vocational training centres (VTC) managed by local administrations (Counties);
  • Ministerial-run technical and professional schools (TVC);
  • National Polytechnics (NP) managed by the national government.

The VTCs managed by the counties are currently the cheapest TVET courses offered by the public service and are also those that are experiencing a difficult situation given the scarce commitment made by local administrations in the promotion of vocational training.

The InJob! project aims at strengthening the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system for the educational inclusion and the job placement of vulnerable young people and youth with disability, with a specific impact on the equality index in professional training and number of TVETs accessible to students with disabilities.

 

General Objective

The Inclusive Development Unit has been involved to improve the knowledge with scientific basis on the barriers that limit labour accessibility for vulnerable young people and youth with disabilities.

 

Our Contribution

To conduct the operative research on the school-to-work transition for VTC graduates, ARCO Researcher adopted a mix-methods methodology based on a tailored toolbox aimed at investigating both the supply-side and the demand side of the Kenyan job market to provide a complete description of employment opportunities for the considered population categories.

On the job demand side, the Inclusive Development Unit will carry out a tracer study on a sample of around 200 graduates, in order to track the effectiveness of the Nairobi VTC institutes in equipping graduates with the necessary skills to successfully gain employment and to trace how successful they have been able to integrate into the labour market after completing their learning programmes.

On the job offer side, researchers will collect data from a minimum of 50 questionnaires to employers and conduct structured interviews 8 to 10 large companies with a national presence.

ARCO will also engage in the creation of 1 learning workshop to share the research results with partners, stakeholders and donors.

Read more on our Inclusive Development Unit