LEARN 4 WORK PROGRAMME VALIDATION WORKSHOP REPORT

LEARN 4 WORK
PROGRAMME VALIDATION WORKSHOP REPORT
(Defining a framework for the Learn4work programme)
Held at Nairobi Safari Club Hotel
9 th October, 2012
Submitted By:
INITIATIVE CONSULTANTS
ACK GARDENS
P.O.BOX 10676-00400, NAIROBI
initiativeconsultant@yahoo.co.uk

List of Abbreviations
ASAL’s
Arid and Semi Arid Lands
EF
L4W
NITA
TVET
Edukans Foundation
Learn4Work
National Industrial Training Authority
Technical Vocational Education and Training
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................................... ii
1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
Workshop Objectives .............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Expected Outputs and Outcomes........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Workshop Content .................................................................................................................................................... 1
2.0 WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS............................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Preliminaries ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2
2.2 Workshop Management and Coordination ................................................................................................................ 2
2.3 Presentations ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.3.1 Introduction to Learn4work ................................................................................................................................... 2
2.3.2 Project Example L4W............................................................................................................................................... 4
2.3.3 Mapping Study ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
2.3.4 Plenary........................................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.0 CLOSURE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
4.0 APPENDICES List of Participants ........................................................................................................................... 6
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Workshop Objectives
The workshop was guided by the following objectives:
a) To become acquitted with L4W and what kind of opportunities it has for Kenyan development
b) To learn from experiences of previous L4W projects
c) To define the L4W framework to operate:
i. economic sectors and
ii. niches regarding TVET
Expected Outputs and Outcomes
The expected output of the workshop was a workshop report. The expected outcome of this workshop was
increases participation of the private sector in TVET activities and enhanced TVET and its quality at
institutional level in Kenya and the world over.
1.1 Workshop Content
The workshop broadly covered the following key areas:
a) An introduction to the L4W programme
b) Reflection on the past L4W projects and preparing for a new phase of activities
c) A review of a L4W project example (TVET Ex-change Project)
d) A mapping study
e) Validation
f) Identifying niche for Learn4work
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2.0 WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS
2.1 Preliminaries
The workshop commenced with a word of prayer by Daniel Kimutai at 10.30 am. Opening and
welcoming remarks were made by Mr. Nyerere who then welcomed Mr. Sitati of LEC- Kenya to
coordinate the workshop. Mr. Sitati emphasized the importance of the workshop to the members
and the organizations they were representing given the relevance of its topics. He hoped that the
participants would be keen on the proceedings to make the day worthwhile will keeping their
contributions within the stipulated time schedule.
The workshop coordinator introduced himself and then asked the team to introduce themselves in a
brief introduction session that involved the participant’s name, the company/organization s/he was
representing and its role in the L4W programmes.
2.2 Workshop Management and Coordination
The workshop coordinator guided the team through the proposed programme. It was agreed that
instead of breaking for tea for 15 minutes, participants should feel free to take a tea as the first
session proceeds considering that there was a lot to cover for a day he also urged the facilitators to
observe the time allocated to them without much extension. With those amendments, the
programme was adopted to guide the workshop proceedings.
2.3 Presentations
2.3.1 Introduction to Learn4work
The Lead facilitator Hester Pronk guided the participants through understanding the basic concepts
of the Learn4work programme where she outlined that the programme was coordinated by Edukans. An
Introduction to learn4work as well as the programmes objectives was discussed. These focused on the: why,
what, how, who, when and where of Learn4work. It was noted that Learn4work is a programme aimed at
improving vocational education in Africa by linking African and Dutch organizations, schools and people.
The programme contributes to:
i. the number of people who can learn a trade;
ii. the quality of vocational training and
iii. better alignment with and flow though the job market.
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Vocational Training was said to be the basis for finding work or starting a business in order to offer young
people more opportunities to improve their income and raise their standards of living.
The Facilitator explained that vocational education in Africa and for that matter Kenya has long been of low
priority and pointed out that the private sector should get more involved in TVET activities since the sector
forms the local labor market. She further explained that with the growing world population faced with high
poverty levels, unemployment and food insecurity, there is urgent need for Kenya and the rest of the world to
enhance TVET and its quality at institutional level. Participants appreciated the fact that the government was
presented in the workshop and that TVET should be linked to the labor market.
The Facilitator reiterated that TVET is an important part of basic education and thus should be
strengthened in terms of access, quality, relevance and institutional development. It was explained
that with a firm TVET framework in place, the labor market will receive skilled labor and more
people will be employed since they have the required skills in the job market. In addition, the
unskilled staff in the industry will be able to go back to TVET for training and increase their
productivity.
As a way of recap, the facilitator explained that it was necessary to understand the characteristics of
Learn4work as working in partnership among various sectors, communities and governments. She
challenged the participants to participate in exchange of programmes, knowledge and experiences. It
was also outlined that focus on specific sectors was a characteristic of L4W where participants were
challenged to bring focus on the changing labor market and device appropriate TVET programmes
that meet the market needs.
On the extent of L4W in Kenya, The facilitator explained that short term intervention guidelines
were being processed and would be released in the near future. She observed that locally, the L4W
network is not fully enhanced and the Edukans Foundation is planning to employ a local
coordinator whom they will together do extensive capacity building and training.
It was highlighted that the Dutch government is recommending that EF takes up only four
countries in Africa instead of the current five and that EF was yet to decide which of the five
countries will be dropped. The lead facilitator however stated that Kenya and Ethiopia are two
countries in which the L4W programme has been successful and hence are likely to be part of the
chosen four.
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The Lead Facilitator also explained that EF will be making a guide line on the funds available in
order to facilitate participants to understand the realistic budget. She observed that it was not
realistic to have a budget of 1 million Euros. It was explained that the guide lines on funding were
ongoing and will be finalized once there is a country coordinator in place. The Dutch Government
committed to provide 34% of the funds involved in EF projects and participants and NGOs were
advised to engage in more fundraising activities.
The facilitator concluded that ht ere is connection between the labor market and TVET but noted
that cooperation with the labor market was going to be a difficult task for EF and the TVET team
hence calling for extensive communication, patience and information sharing to achieve it. She cited
several differences in ideologies, systems and policies between the North and South as the cause for
the difficulties.
The facilitator observed that EF was not aware of the scope i.e the number of teachers, learners and
trainees (beneficiaries) it does reach in its engagements and thus challenged the TVET partners to
improve on reporting and records.
2.3.2 Project Example L4W
The facilitator Mr. Mutinda Munguti introduced SASOL as one of the Edukan’s L4W exchange
programmes whose thematic areas were on land and water management, vocational education and
enterprise development. In justify the course of SASOL, the facilitator explained that 70% of the
population lives below the poverty line with no access to formal education and thus on this
backdrop, the youths have to be creative through TVET. SASOL involves the youth in exchange
programme internships, apprentices involving post primary school youths in: welding, mechanics,
tailoring and hair plaiting. He suggested that the micro level skilled trainees should also be linked to
the private sector through TVET.
The Facilitator stated that L4W TVET is important as it adds value to the society by stimulating an
entrepreneur culture among the people and allowing students to choose courses that are relevant at
the labor market level. It was also explained that SASOL links TVET and the employment market
by initially doing a market research to determine relevant skills and then train graduates in those
skills and stimulate their uptake into the job market through networking. SASOL in collaboration
with local polytechnics has formalized the informal TVET trainees’ skills by providing them with a
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“pass port’’ which is filled by every mentor to an apprentice showing the skills the person has been
trained in.
2.3.3 Mapping Study
The Facilitator Mr. J. Nyerere explained that the main issues that need to be overcome by TVET are
food insecurity and slow development of the private sector. He explained that the labor market
should not only involve in the creation of formal employment but also in the creation of self
employment.
The facilitator recommended that to posh the TVET agenda in Kenya the NITA and KACC should
be involved more in the programme. He also explained that in Kenya, a very small percentage of the
total education budget is invested in TVET and hence suggested that the TVET partners strategize
on hoe to push the government into increasing the funding of TVET education. It was explained
that due to continuously changing job skills requirements, there is need to continuously retrain at all
times in order to remain on top of the development ladder.
It was observed that employment opportunities are only growing in the informal sector hence there
is need for more TVET and preparation of the TVET activities. It was however observed that there
was a difference in the ideologies of the Ministry of Higher education and that of the youth affaires
and therefore it was suggested that NITA be involved to enhance agreement and involvement of
TVET in formal education. It was explained that agriculture had a very high potential for TVET and
thus more capacity building should be done to enhance uptake of agricultural TVET activities.
2.3.4 Plenary
At plenary, participants suggested that for ASALs it was important to broaden the agricultural sector to
include Bee Keeping which had especially great potential. The consensus was that in order to attain the
overall goal of food security in Kenya, it was imperative to make Agriculture the Key economic driver to
achieve the main objectives of L4W TVET.
The partners were to explore linkages to Agriculture by focusing on related areas of manufacturing (value
addition) and ICT (e.g. development of apps for marketing agricultural outputs) that are of priority in their
respective areas to enrich the final document and reflect the minds of all the stakeholders.
At the end of this session, Mr. Nyerere thanked the participants for their active participation and
handed the program to LEC-Kenya’s Aggrey Ndombi for closure.
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3.0 CLOSURE
A vote of thanks was moved by Hester Pronk who appreciated LEC-Kenya for organizing for this forum and
SASOL and all the participants and the facilitators for playing their roles effectively. In her closing remarks,
Hester thanked all the participants for turning up for the workshop. She explained that the next stage will be
to finalize the day’s activities through email communications and developing an agreement. He assured the
participants that the call for proposals will follow in December 2012 which will be followed by match making.
The workshop ended at 5.30 pm with a closing prayer from Catherine Karugu of African Inland Church.
4.0 APPENDICES List of Participants
No Name Organization
1 Cres Baari ILIDP
2 Daniel Kimutai NCCK
3 Catherine Karugu African Inland Church
4 Linda Ndethiu Red een Kind/Help A Child
5 Naomi Ragai NairoBits Trust
6 Victor Omondi NairoBits Trust
7 Mutua Ancent K. AHITI- Kabete
8 Edmond Omongi Baraka Agricultural College
9 Grace Vuhya Embassy of the Netherlands
10 Aggrey Ndombi LEC
11 Doreen Odhiambo African Inland Church
12 J.Mutinda Munguti SASOL
13 Sitati Makhandia LEC
14 John Nyerere ICL Facilitaton
15 Edwin Buluma LEC
16 Gabriel Ratemo YEEP
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