Nairobi,
Thursday April 18, 2024
KNA by Joseph Kamolo Mutua
Kenya will play host to global leaders in technical, vocational education and training (TVET) during the 6th Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) Forum & RSiF Annual Conference scheduled in Nairobi from Tuesday April 23rd to 25th.
Extending an invitation while welcoming the expected delegation to the conference, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said the theme of the conference is leveraging on TVET in the knowledge and skills ecosystem for Africa’s industrialization.
He reiterated the conference will provide an opportunity to engage and interact with Africa Member states of PASET, exchanging knowledge and ideas on how to take forward the important and strategic TVET sector to enable the realization of industrialization the continent requires.
“Welcome ministers and distinguished guests from Africa and around the world particularly the 12 member states of PASET to the 6th PASET Forum & RSiF Annual Conference which will officially be opened by His Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto, C.G.H., President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces,” said CS Machogu.
PASET is a sub-Saharan Africa programme with an objective of strengthening science, technology and engineering capabilities for Socio-economic transformation of the member countries through post-doctoral trainings and skilling the youth in the technical vocational education and training sector.
The CS observed that the greatest challenge on industrialization is the absence of qualified and competent technical human resource adding that technically skilled workforce is a pre-requisite for sustained industrialization.
Machogu emphasized that the path to industrialization followed by many countries, including Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and China and the role played by TVET have been well documented where Africa can learn from the experiences of these countries.
“The 6th PASET Forum will therefore seek to position TVET within the knowledge and skills ecosystem and espouse the critical role it can play in the industrialization of Africa. Emphasis will be on postsecondary or tertiary level TVET in the continuum of skills development and in line with the mandate of PASET,” said the Education CSParticipants will be drawn from African TVET institutions, universities, industry, ministries of education and training as well as finance and economic planning, regulatory bodies, and innovation hubs.
TVET experts from PASET partner countries such as Korea, China, India and Brazil would also be invited to participate as speakers or resource persons.
The EASTRIP project would also be invited to share information on their TVET Centres of Excellence. Other participants would include World Bank officials, the PASET Secretariat, Executive Board, and Consultative Advisory GroupPostsecondary TVET is one of the strategic pillars of the PASET initiative.
According to UNESCO, TVET refers to “aspects of the educational process involving and in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences as well as the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding, and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economics and social life.
TVET contributes to the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) and SDG8 for decent work and economic growth.
The important role that TVET plays in the acquisition of employment-oriented skills for sustainable livelihoods and national economic growth has been documented in several publications of UNESCO and the African Union, among others.
Courtesy; KNA
