Creative Education
2012. Vol.3, No.1, 109-113
Published Online February 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ce) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2012.31018
Copyright © 2012 SciR e s . 109
Challenges Facing Techinical Training in Kenya
Antony K. Sa n g1, Ge or ge M. M ut haa2, Zacharia K. Mbugua3
1Department of Curriculum, Instruction a n d Educational Management, Egerton University, Eger t o n, Kenya
2Department of Curriculum, Instruction a n d Educational Management, Chuka University College, Chuka, Kenya
3Faculty of Education and Resources De velopment, Chuka University College, Chuka, Kenya
Received October 6th, 2011; revised November 10th, 2011; accepted November 20th, 2011
Technical education is necessary if Kenya is to industrialize by the year 2030. Relevant skills have to be
given in Technical training institutions. The training in T.T.Is should therefore be market driven. The
current study was designed to investigate on challenges facing skill training in T.T.Is. This study focused
on the adequacy of training facilities, relevance of facilities, relevance of curriculum and the trainers’
level of qualifications. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Snowball sampling
technique was used to identify T.T.I graduates and their employers became automatic respondents. A
sample size of one hundred and sixty eight respondents was used for the study. The study found out that
training facilities used by T.T.Is are inferior to facilities used in industries and business organizations
Majority of respondents indicated that T.T.I graduates posses’ very irrelevant skills in relation to skill
needs in industries and business organizations. This implies that training policies need to be urgently re-
viewed to ensure that training is market driven. The study recommends an urgent overhaul of the training
curriculum to enhance adequacy of skill training to skill needs in industries and business organizations.
Keywords: Challenges; Skills; Relevance and Adequacy
Introduction
The history of Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (T.V.E.T) in Kenya is as old as the formal education.
The British government used this type to produce critical hu-
man resources needed to develop the then Kenya colony. The
Koech Commission of 1999 observed that the country needed
construction workers, home, office furniture, and agricultural
workers. Sifuna (1992) observes that industrial training in basic
skills had started by 1921.
To facilitate the realization of expanded human resource, the
United Nations Economic Commi ssion for Africa and U NESC O
jointly sponsored the May 1961 Addis Ababa Conference of
African States on Human Resource Development and Training.
The conference recommended that Africa’s priority in human
resource training and development should be accorded to en-
suring that an adequate proportion of the population receives at
secondary and post secondary levels the kind of skills required
for economic development, UNESCO (1961: p. 4).
This conference emphasized the need to match human re-
source training to economic development. The conference un-
derscored the point that economic growth and diversification
would require a greatly expanded reservoir of human resource
with relevant technical skills and abilities. The conference
pointed out that the chief source for development of technical
skills and abilities would be the technical curricula of the for-
mal school system. It noted thatTechnical and Vocational edu-
cation must be reinforced at various levels to train individuals
with “Polyvalent” abilities, able to adopt to changing human
resource demands. Expanded programmes of technical educa-
tion are mandatory if urgent need for qualified specialists to run
the existing and projected economic institutions are to be met,
UNESCO (1961: p. 6).
The G.O.K (1981), recommended the 8-4-4 education system
in an effort to promote technical education. Sifuna (1992) states
that this recommendation had its basis on the previous govern-
ment efforts to emphasis non-formal education, which were
elaborated in various forums such as:
1) The International Labour Organization Mission Report on
employment, income and equality; a strategy for increasing
productive employment of 1972.
2) The recommendations of the National Committee on
Educational Objectives Policies of 1975.
The G.O.K (1981), further recommended the establishment
of Technical Training Institutes (T.T.Is) from former Technical
Secondary Schools as tertiary institutions for teaching of prac-
tical skills to facilitate direct employment, self-employment and
employment in the informal sector. In spite of the emphasis
placed on technical education by conferences and commissions,
an International Labour Organization (ILO) Report of 1992 ob-
served that young people coming out of the technical institu-
tions lacked employable skills (Kerre, 1992). This puts to ques-
tion the quality of skill training in T.T.Is. This observation calls
for a systematic study to establish the challenges facing techni-
cal training in Kenya. This study was thus an attempt to deter-
mine the challenges hampering the imparting of skills offered
in Technical Training institutes to its graduates.
Statement of the Problem
Technical skills form the basis for the realization of indus-
trial transformation and a meaningful quest for Kenya’s Vision
2030. Besides, technical skills are a basic requirement that en-
able members of the society to engage productively in the life
of a society. Technical training is done through Technical
Training Institutions. Various education commissions, Interna-
tional Conferences and ILO Reports, have continuously queried
the relevance of Kenyan T.T.I graduates. This study sought to

A. K. SANG ET AL.
determine challenge facing training in the technical training
institutions in Kenya.
Objectives of the Study
The study aimed at assessing the adequacy of training facili-
ties appropriateness of such facilities, the relevance of T.T.I
curriculum to industrial skills needs and the capacities of the
T.T.I trainers to instruct effectiv ely.
Significance of the Study
It is hoped that the findings and recommendation of this
study will assist educational planners, educational policy mak-
ers and other interested parties in planning and making appro-
priate decisions concerning human resource training and de-
velopment. This study will also help address training needs thus
respond to changing human resource demands. Finally it’s an-
ticipated that this study will help fill gaps in research in this
area.
Methodology
This study was conducted using descriptive survey research
design. This design was appropriate for the study as it enabled
the researcher to gather facts on the challenges facing technical
training in Kenya. This study was based in the eight T.T.Is and
industries where graduates of these T.T.I’s are employed. The
study targeted the trainers in T.T.I’s to represent informed spe-
cialists. The T.T.I graduates and employers were targeted to
represent the users and consumers of training skills respectively.
400 T.T.I trainers, approximately 48,000 graduates of T.T.Is
and their employers formed the population of the study. An
approximated frame population of 70,000 was targeted by the
study.
Snowball sampling technique was used to identify T.T.I
graduates to be included in the study and their respective em-
ployers who became automatic respondents. A sample size of
384 respondents was selected for the study. These consisted of
48 H.O.Ds, 168 graduates and 168 employers. Kathuri and Pals
(1993) holds that a sample size of 382 for a population of
70,000 should be considered minimum. The chosen sample size
satisfied this requirement.
Questionnaires were used for the study. Gall, Borg and Gall
(1996) points out that questionnaire are appropriate for studies
since they collect information that is not directly observable as
they inquire about feelings, motivation, attitudes and accom-
plishment as well as experiences of individuals. Questionnaires
were chosen on the basis of these strengths.
Reliability of the instruments was tested after piloting. All
items were split into two and then Spearman Brown prophecy
formula was used to calculate a split half correlation co-effi-
cient. A correlation coefficient of 0.849, 0.885 and 0.921 were
realized for the graduates, employers and H.O.Ds question-
naires respectively. The instruments were therefore considered
reliable.
Results and Discusions
Demographic Data
The study sought to establish the training background of the
H.O.Ds in the T.T.Is. The respondents were asked whether they
were graduates of T.T.Is. Most respondents (70.8%) are gradu-
ates of T.T.Is compared to (29.2%) of the H.O.Ds who are
graduates of other training institutions. This could suggest that
either graduate teachers from other training institutions are few
or that T.T.Is are not attracti v e to these gradu ates.
The study inquired on achievements of graduates at gradua-
tion. The T.T.Is are mandated to train technicians, craftsmen
and artisans (G.O.K, 1999). 52.4% and 39.9% of respondents
qualified with diplomas and craft respectively. Only 4.2% and
3.6% of the total respondents indicated higher diploma and
artisan as their levels of qualifications at graduation. The ma-
jority of T.T.I graduates are diploma holders. The 2003/2005
National Development Plan decried the training imbalance of
technologists to craftsmen to artisans, which is 1:3:12 com-
pared to an optimal of 1:5:30 (G.O.K, 2002). The current train-
ing in the T.T.Is does not therefore serve to remedy the labour
force disparity.
The organization type was sought. The service category lead
at 58.9%, manufacturing 38.1% and extraction 3%. This may
probably explain the distribution of T.T.I graduates on em-
ployment in the various industries. The study established that
majority of the T.T.I graduates are employed in the service
industries and business organizations. Only a small proportion
of the T.T.I graduates are employed in the extraction industries.
Graduate respondents were asked to indicate the reasons that
made them join T.T.Is. Majority (91.1%) of the graduate re-
spondents joined T.T.Is to acquire skills for employment while
5.4% sought T.T.I training for self-fulfillment. 2.4% of respon-
dents indicated that they were influenced by their parents to
enroll for T.T.I training whereas 0.6% of respondents indicated
that they opted for T.T.I training since they were short of op-
tions. Only 0.6% of the respondents indicated that they enrolled
for T.T.I training due to other reasons which they did not dis-
close though they had been asked to do so.
Trainers of T.T.Is
Trainers are a critical component of the training requirements.
The G.O.K, (2005) emphasizes on the need for adequate staff-
ing for the effective education at all levels of training. An item
in the H.O.D questionnaire sought to inquire on the adequacy of
trainers in the departments. Majority of the respondents (72.9%)
indicated that the trainers were not adequate while (27.1%) of
the respondents indicated that the trainers were adequate to
implement the training duties in the department.The shortage of
trainers therefore emerged as one of the challenges facing
T.T.Is in Kenya.
The trainers’ level of qualification is critical in determining
the efficiency of the training process. Aduda (2003) observes
that the trainer should possess higher qualification to effectively
execute the training duties. The study sought information on the
academic qualifications of T.T.I trainers. Most of the trainers
(32.1%) are either diploma holders or first-degree holders in
each case. About 22.2% and 13.6% of the trainers were said to
have higher diploma and masters respectively. The study estab-
lished that majority of the trainers were either diploma holders
or first degree graduates. This is despite the fact that most T.T.I
graduates left the institutions with a diploma qualification. It is
therefore clear that the T.T.Is are poorly staffed with highly
skilled instruc t o rs, making the qu a li ty of training low.
The study sought information on how the T.T.Is managed the
inadequacy of trainers. The Majority of the respondents (66.7%)
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A. K. SANG ET AL.
indicated that the situation was managed by hiring part time
teachers, whereas 21.2% of the respondents identified multi-
grade teaching as a solution. 3.0% of the respondents indicated
that trainees were left to learn on their own. The study estab-
lished the T.T.Is resulted to desperate moves in managing staff
shortages which included the hiring of part-time lecturers as the
most commonly used option. Multi-grade teaching was used as
an option where the trainers combined trainees taking similar
units though at different levels into the same classroom, work-
shops or laboratories. Other option that included the giving of
assignments to students, omission of optional units/subjects
from the time tabl e were given as options adapted in an effort to
address the problem of staff inadequacy. In effect the shortage
of staff and the pre-occupation of T.T.Is with part-time instruc-
tors hampers the continuity of programmes and their quality.
The study further sought information on the H.O.Ds’ level of
academic qualifications. Most H.O.Ds (37.5%) were diploma
holders. 29.2% of the H.O.Ds have either higher diploma or
first degree qualifications each. Only 4.2% of the H.O.Ds had a
master’s qualification. The H.O.Ds are expected to serve as the
reference persons in the departments, however, despite this
revelation by the study these departments have majority of the
trainees graduating with the diploma level of qualification. The
findings of the current study are concurring with the revelations
of an inspection in Kenya Polytechnic conducted in 1996 which
found out that, majority of the trainers held an ordinary diploma
(Aduda, 2003).
The study sought to establish the frequency to which trainers
went for industrial attachment. This was meant to assess the
frequency of trainers’ interaction with the industries. Majority
of the respondents (52.1%) indicated that trainers are never
attached in the industries. Approximately 22.9% indicated that
attachment of trainers was not often done while 14.6% and
4.2% indicated that attachments for trainers are often done and
very often taken respectively. The study established that indus-
trial exposure of the trainers through industrial attachments was
minimal. This in itself is a weakness given that T.T.I graduates
require extensive practical exposition through industrial at-
tachments.
Facility Availability
The G.O.K (2005) observes that training facilities are critical
if education in Kenya is to meet the technological market skill
needs and move the country to the vision 2030. The availability
of training facilities is critical to quality teaching and training.
Majority of the H.O.D respondents (83.3%) indicated that
training facilities were not adequate compared to only 16.7% of
respondents who indicated that the physical facilities were
adequate. This implies that the H.O.Ds felt that T.T.Is operated
with inadequate training facilities.
The graduates’ opinion was also sought in reference to the
adequacy of the physical facilities. Majority of the graduate
respondents (63.1%) indicated that the training facilities in
T.T.Is were inadequate while 36.9% indicated that the facilities
were adequate. This implies that majority of the T.T.I graduates
felt that they were trained using inadequate training facilities. A
hypothesis was postulated to determine the significance of dif-
ference in the mean of the opinions held by the H.O.Ds and
graduates on the availability of training facilities in the T.T.Is.
The computed p-value (1.00) is greater the critical p-value
(0.05) the null hypothesis was therefore accepted as true. There
was no significant difference in the opinions of H.O.Ds and the
graduates.
The study sought information on the effects of the availabil-
ity of training facilities to the T.T.I training. Majority of re-
spondents (85.4%) indicated that availability of training facili-
ties did affect the relevance of skills to market skill needs
whereas 14.6% felt that facility availability had no effect on
skill relevance.
The study therefore sought information on the relevance of
the training facilities to facilities used in industries and business
organizations. Respondents were asked to rate the training fa-
cilities in term of relevance to those used in industries. The
H.O.D respondents (45.8%) indicated that the training facilities
were slightly relevant to the facilities used in the industries
whereas 25% of the respondents felt that the facilities were
relevant. About 14.6% of the respondents rated the facilities as
obsolete while 10.4% had no opinion on the relevance of the
T.T.I training facilities to those used in the industries. Only
4.2% of the respondents felt that the facilities were very rele-
vant. The graduates’ opinion on the relevance of training facili-
ties used in T.T.I compared to those used in industries and
business organizations was sought. Respondents (44%) felt that
the training facilities used in T.T.Is were slightly relevant to
those used in the industries while 27.4% rated the facilities as
relevant, 14.9% of the respondents indicated that the facilities
were obsolete whereas 8.9% of the respondents rated the facili-
ties to be very relevant. Only 4.8% of the respondents held no
opinion on the level of relevance of training facilities used by
T.T.Is to facilities used in the industries and business organiza-
tions. The study established that certain courses used facilities
that were completely out of tune with facilities used in indus-
tries and business organizations.
Employers’ opinion on the relevance of T.T.Is’ training fa-
cilities was also sought. 39.9% of the respondents rated the
training facilities as slightly relevant, while 35.7% of respon-
dents felt that the training facilities were obsolete. About 17.9%
of the respondents indicated that the training facilities were
relevant, while 2.4% of the respondents rated the facilities to be
very relevant. 4.2% of the respondents did not give their opin-
ion on this.
The study sought information on the state of training equip-
ments in T.T.Is. The H.O.Ds were asked to rate the training
equipments ranging from obsolete to modern. At 47.9% the
H.O.Ds felt that the training facilities are good, 22.9% were
non-committal on the state of facilities, 14.6% rated the facili-
ties as bad, 12.5% said the facilities were obsolete whereas only
2.1% of respondents rated the facilities as modern. Though a
reasonable proportion of respondents rated the training equip-
ments as good a greater proportion of respondents rated the
equipments obsolete (12.5%) compared to the 2.1% who rated
the equipments as modern. Modern referred to the training
equipments being in tandem with the equipments used in the
industries while obsolete referred to the situation where the
training equipments were absolutely out of tune with the equip-
ments used in industries and business organizations.
The study also sought information on the state of training
equipments from former trainees of T.T.Is. Graduate respon-
dents (28%) rated the training equipments used in T.T.Is as
good, 23.2% rated the equipments as obsolete, 19.6% indicated
the equipments to be bad, 19% held no opinion on the state of
the training equipments whereas 10.1% rated the training
equipments as modern. A larger proportion of the respondents
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A. K. SANG ET AL.
rated the T.T.I training equipments as obsolete compared to the
proportion that rated the training equipments as modern. A hy-
pothesis was postulated to determine the significant difference
in the opinion of graduates and H.O.Ds towards T.T.I training
equipments. The p-value (1.00) computed is greater than the
critical p-value (0.05). There is no significance difference in the
respondents’ opinions on training equipments.
The study sought the respondents’ opinion on the need to
modernize the training equipments. Majority of the respondents
(97.9%) indicated that there was urgent need to modernize the
training equipments used in T.T.Is. Only 2.1% felt that mod-
ernizing the equipments was not a priority.
The study sought information on the effects of the obsolete
training equipments to relevance of T.T.I training. Majority of
respondents (90%) indicated that the facilities eroded the rele-
vance of training to market skill needs whereas 10% of respon-
dents indicated that the state of the training equipment did not
have effect on the relevance of training to market skill needs.
This data indicated that training equipments compromised the
relevance of T.T.I taught skills to skill needs in industries and
business organizations.
Relevance of Training Curriculum
The study sought to establish the relevance T.T.I taught skills
to the employment market skills in industries and business or-
ganizations in Kenya. Respondents (29.2%) and (27.1%) indi-
cated that the courses offered by the T.T.Is were relevant and
irrelevant to the market skill needs respectively, while 16.7%
held no opinion on the relevance of courses offered, whereas
14.6% and 12.5% felt that the courses offered were very rele-
vant and very irrelevant respectively. The data reveals that
about 40% of respondents indicated that the courses were either
irrelevant or very irrelevant to the market skill needs in indus-
tries and business organization. This observation made from the
trainers in T.T.Is means that T.T.Is are engaged in training ac-
tivities they doubt to serve the consumers. This calls for a
serious scrutiny of current skills offered by T.T.Is to align them
to the industrial and business organizations’ skill needs.
The study sought to know the extent to which the courses
taught in T.T.Is covered the market skill needs in industries and
business organizations. H.O.Ds were asked whether the T.T.I
training covered all market skill needs of the industries and
business organizations. Majority of the respondents (87.5%)
indicated that the training did not cover adequately the market
skill needs whereas at a response rate of 12.5% respondents
indicated that T.T.I training covered all the market skill de-
mands. This observation by the H.O.Ds illustrates a situation
that calls for urgent attention to ensure that the T.T.I training
satisfies the skill needs in industries and business organizations
if the country is to realize the vision 2030. Graduates were
asked to state whether T.T.Is training covered all the skill de-
mands by the industries and business organization. Majority of
the respondents (76.8%) indicated that the training did not sat-
isfy the market skill needs while 23.2% of respondents felt that
training covered all the market skill demands.
An item was included in the employers’ questionnaire, which
sought information on the training activities in which employ-
ers participated in training. Majority of the respondents (51.5%)
indicated that they provided attachment to T.T.I trainees, 11.5%
of respondents indicated that they provided training facilities to
T.T.Is, 10.3% of the respondents indicated that they offered
advisory services to T.T.Is. About 7.3% of respondents offered
attachment opportunities to trainers whereas 5.7% of the re-
spondents were involved in curriculum evaluation, 5.3% of
respondents were involved in curriculum implementation, while
2.7% of employers participated in curriculum research, 3.4% of
respondents were involved in the management of T.T.Is. Only
2.3% of the respondents indicated that they participated in cur-
riculum formulation. This information is reflected on Table 1.
The study sought information on whether T.T.Is carried out
market survey to establish skill needs in industries and business
organizations. Majority of the respondents (72.1%) indicated
that no market surveys were carried out by T.T.Is while 27.1%
indicated that they conducted market surveys to establish mar-
ket skill needs. The data revealed that, T.T.Is trained without
respect to the market skill demands. This may result in discon-
nection between skill training and the market skill needs. This
observation is in agreement with the G.O.K (2005) observation
on the sessional paper number one that technical education in
Kenya has failed to address the industrial skill needs.
Conclusion
The major reason why graduate joined T.T.I was to secure
skills for employment. Given the reasons training institutions
should endeavour to produce graduates who are marketable to
industries and business organizations. This will be feasible
when the internal efficiency and the external efficiency of
T.T.Is are achievable.
Despite the fact that T.T.Is offer more diploma courses, ma-
jority of the trainers are diploma holders and majority of the
heads of departments are also diploma holders. Having trained
in similar institutions, the majority of the T.T I. trainers there-
fore train at the same level of the academic achievement with
no added advantage except age and classroom experience.
Most T.T.Is operates with inadequate staff. This compro-
mises the quality of teaching and learning since the short fall in
the number of trainers is addressed through hiring part-time
teachers, multi-grade teaching, and the students individualized
learning engagements. Multi-grade teaching refers to a situation
where students at different levels of learning are taught in the
same workshops, laboratories or classrooms. This affects the
interactive capacity between the students and the teachers.
Technical training institutes operate with inadequate training
Table 1.
Employers involvement in training activities.
Involvement in training activi ties Frequency Percentage
Curriculum Formulation 6 2.3
Curriculum Implementation 14 5.3
Curriculum Evaluation 15 5.7
Management of T.T.Is 9 3.4
Attachment of Trainees 135 51.5
Attachment of Trainers 19 7.3
Provision of Training Facil i t ies 30 11.5
Curriculum Research 7 2.7
Advisory R ol e 27 10.3
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A. K. SANG ET AL.
Copyright © 2012 SciRe s . 113
facilities. Majority of the respondents indicated that T.T.Is op-
erated without adequate physical facilities, did not have ade-
quate training tools and T.T.Is lacked adequate training materi-
als. The lack of training facilities compromises the relevance of
T.T.I taught skills to market skill needs in industries and busi-
ness organizations. Most of the training equipments found in
T.T.Is are not technologically in tandem with equipments found
in industries and business organizations. The training equip-
ments are inferior to the equipments used in industries and
business organizations. This state of training equipments eroded
the relevance of T.T.Is taught skills to market skill needs. It is
therefore concluded that there is urgent need to modernize
equipments and provided adequate facilities to ensure that
graduates coming out of T.T.Is acquire skills relevant to the
employment market skill needs in industries and business or-
ganizations.
Majority of the T.T.I trainers have never had the opportunity
for industrial attachment. This implies that T.T.I trainers are not
privy to technology and information used in industries and
business organizations which were perceived to be superiour to
those used in the T.T.Is. The lack of attachment opportunities
for trainers denies them the interactive opportunity to learn and
appreciate latest technology.
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