New TVET Strategy aims to equip Kenyan youth with skills to curb crime

NEW TVET STRATEGY AIMS TO EQUIP KENYAN YOUTH WITH SKILLS TO CURB CRIME News / August 27, 2024 The State Department for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has introduced a master plan aimed at equipping youth in conflict-prone areas of Kenya with technical skills. This master plan, dubbed "Skilling for Peace," will be implemented in all conflict-prone regions of the country. Welcoming the strategy, Principal Secretary Dr. Esther Muoria noted that "Skilling for Peace" is an initiative whose time has come. She emphasized the need for perfect implementation to ensure that youth in conflict hotspots gain skills to avoid engaging in criminal activities such as cattle rustling and other vices. Dr. Muoria stressed the critical importance of equipping youth in volatile regions with skills, stating that this will help them abandon cattle rustling and banditry. "TVET, in partnership with Inter-peace, a non-governmental organization (NGO), will launch a campaign in Northern Kenya and the North Rift to ensure that the youth acquire these skills," said Dr. Muoria. She also revealed that the State Department for TVET, in collaboration with Inter-peace, conducted a study to explore opportunities for diversified livelihoods in the troubled regions of Northern Kenya and the North Rift. She added that TVET together with Inter-peace went ahead and mapped out training areas that will suit the youth and herders in most of these conflict-prone areas. Dr. Muoria noted that the intention of the study is designed to integrate herders and the youth in these areas in TVETS as envisaged in the shared national security strategy thereby contributing to sustainable peace, security, and development in the regions. The study, the PS said, also evaluated the potential of the "Skills4Peace Initiative" in addressing root causes of conflicts and 'drying up the sources of conflict in Northern Kenya and North Rift through the provision of diversified skills set leading to varied economic opportunities, fostering cultural diversity and social cohesion, and promoting sustainable development. She revealed that 500 youth in the Tiati constituency have already embraced the Skills for Peace initiative and are set to join North Rift Technical Vocational College (TVC) to pursue various programs in the institution. The youth vowed to join the Skills for Peace bandwagon to drum up a campaign to ensure that the youth shun cattle rustling to embrace TVET training for economic sustainability. The PS rallied the Government and the County. Governments and development partners support the Skills for Peace Initiative to help TVET restore peace in these conflict-hotbed regions.