Uhuru Finally Delivers on Key Promise to Young Kenyans

President Uhuru Kenyatta has finally delivered on his promise to subsidise the cost of education in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions countrywide.

A statement by the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) on Tuesday, November 3, announced that the government had laid in place frameworks to ensure that it could fund fees for students in these institutions.

The government would subsidize tuition fees for enrolled learners by Ksh30,000 per year, to enable those from poor backgrounds to access quality education.

TVET Principal Secretary Kevit Desai had announced on January 19, 2019, that the government would launch measures to ensure that the vocational education sector was well taken care of.

The government also announced that the learners would be allowed to apply for the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) student loans to a tune of Ksh40,000 annually.

This move comes almost a year after the Vocational and Technical Training Principal Secretary Kevit Desai disclosed plans to increase access to TVETs.

Speaking in January 2019, Desai had intimated that the government had been mulling an elaborate plan of subsidizing vocational training costs to enable students from low-income families to access technical education and benefit from training opportunities offered in TVET Institutions.

The government on Tuesday announced that through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), it was undertaking a continuous enrolment of qualified Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate holders to TVETs at diploma and certificate levels.

The statement by PSCU also indicated that the offer by the government was not limited to students who had recently graduated.

The president urged students to visit KUCCPS desks at Huduma Centres in Nairobi (GPO and Makadara), Kisumu, Kitui, Mombasa, Kakamega, Garissa, Eldoret, Nakuru, Meru, and Nyeri for assistance.

Learners would have until 31, December 2019 to apply for courses starting in January 2020.

A student at a TVET institution in Kenya.