The Government of the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of South Korea entered into a Framework arrangement whose purpose was to promote reduction of poverty and sustainable economic and social development of the Republic of Kenya through grant of aid. This grant also provided for the Project for Capacity building for NITA through its NITA Mombasa Centre.
The KOICA-Kenya project was aimed at supporting employers to build a skilled and adaptable workforce through subsidized training and development. The Project which was undertaken over a 3-year period was officially launched on 21st May 2018 by then-Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Hon. Amb. Ukur Yatani alongside then- Korean Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Kwon Young Dae.
NITA Mombasa’s Automotive, Mechanical, Apparel Technology, Electrical, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning and Building Technology Sections all underwent extensive renovations that also saw the Centre receiving state-of-the-art equipment which were successfully installed. The Project was officially commissioned and handed-over to the Authority on 29th November 2019.
10 Industrial Training Officers [ITOs] drawn from the Authority’s Industrial Training Centres undertook a Training of Trainer’s Programme led by Prof. Jonsik Won and Prof Laurentius Baek from KOICA. The ITOs graduated on Tuesday, 16th November 2021 in a ceremony that took place at Safari Park Hotel. The Chief Guest was Hon Simon K. Chelugui, EGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour who was represented by Chief Administrative Secretary, Hon Patrick Ole Ntutu. The Korean Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Amb. Yeonghan Choi was also present during the event. 24 other ITOs had also graduated from an inland TOT Programme that was held at NITA Mombasa on 24th January 2020.
“Kenya’s diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea have evolved from the year 1964, and the bond between the two countries has solidified, boosting bilateral trade to over $250 million. As aforementioned, high-level interaction between the two countries has also increased over the past five years, which has seen the two countries’ ties go beyond trade, into skills and knowledge transfer”, stated the Cabinet Secretary in his remarks.
During his remarks, the Korean Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Amb. Yeonghan Choi noted that, “For both the government of Korea and Kenya to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, target 4.4 “substantially increasing the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship by 2030” it is our responsibility to ensure that the youth get equitable access to industrial and TVET needs as well as ensuring their quality is not compromised and also there is skills acquisition where the youth are taught beyond work specific skills”.
The Chairman of the National Industrial Training Board Dr. Kamau Gachigi also noted that the availability of skills that are relevant to industry is a key driver of labour productivity and has a strong link with national economic performance. For a growing economy such as ours, the availability of relevant skills makes a critical contribution to the uptake of new market opportunities and technologies at firm level. He also stated that the partnership between NITA and KOICA provides a unique blend of a strong purpose designed to transform lives of many Kenyans.
In his remarks, the NITA Director General Mr. Stephen Ogenga stated that it is critical that countries and indeed organizations take an active role in supporting their current workforces through re-training, and that individuals take a proactive approach to their own lifelong learning, and that governments create the enabling environment, rapidly and creatively, to assist these efforts.
KOICA Country Deputy Director Ms. Mi Park as well as Korean Polytechnics [KOPO] and KOICA Representatives were also present during the event.
The KOICA-Kenya Project takes into consideration that when it comes to increasing investment in the workforce, industries, formal and informal sectors priorities must be accorded to the education and training of the employees. Workers are essential in fully exploiting the skills in their field of work, while offering an in-depth technical and critical solution to the challenges which are being experienced in the industry. The current world values modern technology for efficiency for them to meet their set objectives and improvement of their products and NITA is alive to this fact, hence its urgent quest for the transformation of industrial training through projects such as these.