Currently approximately 80% transition to high school, and only 40% transition to universities. Last year, approximately 800,000 did KCPE, and those that sat for KCSE were approximately 500,000. This leaves about 150,000 primary graduates and about 300,000 secondary school graduates without a way of progressing their learning. This is the gap TVET must fill.
TVET training has not be correctly placed both in the minds of learners, tutors, parents, and even the public. Often, my teacher would tell us that if you fail the final exams, you will only be able to earn a place in the village polytechnic school - where tailoring, masonry, carpentry, welding and other skill-based courses were taught – solidifying the perception that artisans are a ‘last resort’ occupation. We must seriously and urgently counter these perceptions for the artisans and graduates of TVET to be able to earn a decent pay, and enhance policies that protect the remuneration of their craft. Unlike other trades such as law, teaching, engineering, accounting, and medicine amongst others which are well organised into associations to foster the welfare of the members, artisans operate with no organized representation, a poor public image and little to no enforced national legislation for minimum labour standards or occupational safety regulations, the artisan and construction workers are vulnerable to exploitation. This has further been complicated by the fact there are many people who practice in this same space without any certificate. A way must be found to weed out the quacks from the industry. The genuine practitioners should be availed opportunity to get certification while on the job, and slowly progress to a situation where in order to practice, you must show certification. Furthermore, organized foreign artisans have been able to take advantage of this situation, win contracts and displace Kenyan workers. This is a losing situation for Kenya. Our artisans could literally be building our country and contributing to the Kenyan economy, but instead those jobs are going to foreign nationals who spend a small percentage of their wages inside the Kenyan economy. Knowing the numbers we are talking about, it should concern all policy makers to think of innovative ways to keep these TVET graduates in employment. This will significantly lower the unemployment pressure exerted by un-employed youths. Some efforts to mobilize the artisans to achieve the above goals have been made, and we know there are many such efforts out there that could be consolidated to address this problem. Global Communities, an International Non-Governmental Organization, operating in over 20 countries in the world, is pioneering the concept of worker-owned cooperatives as one of the means to unite the artisans, and create a pool of talent which the public could run to for guaranteed quality service. FundiTech, a pre-cooperative of artisans and craftsmen in Nairobi County, supported by the USAID/EMIRGE program, is endeavouring to change this status quo narrative. As an association of skilled artisans or “Fundis” they are coming together using the worker-owner cooperative business model, to build their own business of professionals that they know can change the face of fundis (artisans) in the country. FundiTech wants to become a “one stop shop” where clients can get any quality service in the building and construction industry, from project design to interior finishing. As worker-owners, FundiTech members can set the terms of their own employment, ensure members know their rights and remove avenues for exploitation, while ensuring wages earned are commensurate to the skill provided. As a social enterprise the cooperative is envisioned to improve the standards of living of artisans and also providing soft skills on professionalism, customer service, workforce standards, and others that will improve the client interactions and the perception of the Kenyan Fundi. By providing ownership in the form of shares to the members (artisans) the worker-owner element incentivizes them to work to the best of their ability in order to enhance the reputation and profitability of FundiTech. We hope the many efforts out there to this end could be shared and that a more robust TVET promotion and investment would be made to give the millions of our young people a chance in life, now and in the years to come.
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6/20/2023 03:26:15 am
It’s free if you open it with ANNA company registration tool and you also get a business bank account that gives you all the tools to run your business, from invoicing to expenses. Alternatively, you can Register a company online with Companies House for £12. Postal registrations normally cost £40, though you can pay £100 for a same-day postal registration if that’s what you want.
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AboutThis blog is authored by professionals working in various parts of the developing world to strengthen co-operatives. Archives
December 2017
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