Does Government Policies Contribute To Enrolment in Vocational Training Centres in Kenya?

Abstract

The government of Kenya has invested heavily in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) through increased budgetary support. In addition, the county governments have established and refurbished new Vocational Training centres (VTCs) as well as upgrading the existing ones to accommodate more youths. However, enrolment trends over the past five years have been below the carrying capacity. This paper therefore, investigates if government TVET policies (national and county governments) contribute towards students’ enrolment in VTCs, with a specific focus on Elgeyo-Marakwet County. The study design was descriptive in nature and the sample size comprised of 11 principals, 52 tutors and 312 VTCs students. Snowballing method was used to locate 20 primary school leavers involved in the study. The study used questionnaires and interview schedules as instruments of collecting data. Data generated descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic content analysis. The study found out that some government funding policies like (bursaries, resource distribution and cost sharing) favoured the enrolment of students in VTCs while TVET progression structure, admission criteria and admission policies did not result to significant cause of enrolment in VTCs. The reason for that is as a result of the potential students being not aware of their existence. The paper therefore, recommends that county governments should create awareness to potential youths on existence of VTCs, funding available sources, requirements for one to join and the progression structure as this would result to increased enrolment rate.