Technical and vocational training in Kenya and the Harambee institutes of technology

Abstract

This paper is one of a series dealing with different aspects of the fund-raising campaign, which began in mid-1971, for the establishment throughout Kenya of a large number of institutes of technology on a self-help basis. By March 1973 such institutes had been proposed for Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Nyeri, Embu, Meru, Yatta, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kericho, Kihancha, Kisii, Kisumu, Kaimosi, Kakamega, Sang'alo and Kajiado. In the absence of coordination each institute's planning committee is trying to draw up its own plan for curriculum, syllabus, enrolment etc. It is an aim of this paper to bring together information which will be useful to this task and, it is hoped, to contribute to the public debate about the role that these institutes might play in Kenya's technical and vocational training system. We concentrate, therefore, on such fairly narrow, economic questions as sources of staff and students, employment prospects and cost and financing. We start with an analysis of the existing system of training and of plans for its expansion, based partly on a survey carried out by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 1971 and on our follow-up to that survey in 1972. The plans of the proposed Harambee institutes are then reviewed and, in conclusion, some observations about their prospects are made on the basis of a comparison of the first two sections.