A Review of the Status of TVET Institutions in the Revitalization of the Collapsed Textile Industry in Kenya

  • George Oluoch The Sigalagala National Polytechnic, Kakamega, Kenya
Keywords: Revitalization, TVET, Textile, Training

Abstract

Technical and vocational Education and Training (TVET) is considered a driving force for a sustainable textile industrial development in the world. In Kenya, the industry was one of the major sources of foreign exchange earners for the country in the 1980’s. It however collapsed in the early 1990’s. It is currently considered in the Government policy ‘Kenya Vision 2030’ as having a potential of reducing poverty by providing employment to more than 8 million people. In its effort to bring to life the collapsed textile industries, the government has revived the Rift Valley Textiles in Eldoret and it is in the process of reviving the collapsed Kisumu Cotton Mills and Mount Kenya Cotton Textiles. Further, concerted efforts are being focused on cotton research especially Bacillus thuringiensis cotton production, at the same time, plans are underway to ban the importation of second hand clothes. However, the government is faced with the challenge of inadequate supply of trained skilled manpower. TVET institutions are expected to play a vital role in the production of skilled labor to facilitate the revitalization of the textile industry in Kenya. In order to determine the status of training in textile and apparel courses in Kenyan TVET institutions, a database of the existing TVET institutions offering textile, and apparel courses was developed. From the database it was established that some vital textile engineering courses were not being offered by any of the TVET institutions. Additionally, it was established that none of the technical universities was offering bachelor’s degree in any of the textile related courses. From the database developed, Jeremiah Nyaga Technical Training Institute was found to offer a diverse range of textile related courses and hence proposed to be considered as a center of excellence in textile training. There is need for regular review of the textile curriculum in conjunction with textile industrial players so as to be at par with the needs of the industry. The paper was based on secondary data and documents obtained from published and unpublished literature sourced from journals, books, papers and the internet. The information obtained from this study is important for the ministry of education in developing policies that will inform a skilled-based curriculum for textile related courses in TVET institutions.

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Published
2019-10-24
How to Cite
Oluoch, G. (2019). A Review of the Status of TVET Institutions in the Revitalization of the Collapsed Textile Industry in Kenya. Africa Journal of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, 4(1), 77-83. Retrieved from https://afritvet.org/index.php/Afritvet/article/view/83