A few days after the Deputy President William Ruto announced that government will offer grants and education loans to students in select colleges, fees has also been scrapped by the government for some courses.
DP Ruto during the weekend stated that students joining technical training colleges in the country will not be required to pay fees anymore.
“There will be no money asked from students joining technical training colleges as fees. The money will now be paid by the government. They will also be entitled to a grant and loans just like their counterparts in universities,” announced the Deputy President during a tour at the coast.
[caption caption="Fees structure "]
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He stated that the Sh30,000 grants and education loans were meant to ensure that students joining the colleges are trained without having to burden their parents.
The target colleges offer training in a range of courses in electrical and electronics, automotives, building and construction, plumbing, secretarial, ICT skills and quantity surveying.
Others offer business and accounting courses with a number of them furnishing the job market with skilled personnel into the hospitality industry through their food and beverage technology coursework.
According to a fees structure for the September 2018 seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Wote Technical Training college, for instance, asks parents to pay Sh51,000 for technical courses, Sh57,000 for food and beverage courses and Sh48,000 for business courses a year.
Interior CS Fred Matiangi, during his tenure at the Ministry of Education, rooted for the uptake of courses offered by Technical and Vocational Education Training institutions (TVETs) as a way of helping the country realise its Vision 2030.
[caption caption="Wote Technical Training Institute "]
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In 2015, more than 50,000 places in TVETs only attracted only 12,000 applicants. Most of these institutions absorb students who fall short of the secondary school entry requirements after sitting for their KCPE.
In 2016, the Ministry records indicate that an additional 50,000 slots were created in technical institutions to absorb the large number of students ineligible to join colleges and universities after making headway against cheating in national examinations.
