By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
Kenya, October 12 ,2026 - Kenya is expanding technical and vocational training, but a persistent question remains, are learners gaining the skills employers need, and enough practical experience to use them? At a meeting in Eldoret, Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy John Tanui called for closer partnerships between employers and training institutions to help answer that question.
Tanui made the call while delivering the keynote address at a Rift Valley Technical Training Institute (RVTTI) partners’ breakfast meeting under the theme “Sustainable Futures.” He urged industry and colleges to collaborate on curricula, industrial attachments and practical training, and called for information and communications technology (ICT), artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to be incorporated into technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
How serious is the gap?#
There is no single figure that measures Kenya’s entire skills gap. It differs by sector, occupation and location, and overlaps with a larger problem, not enough people can find decent, productive work.
But employers have reported difficulty finding suitably skilled workers even as unemployment remains high. In its 2023 Skills Needs Survey, the Federation of Kenya Employers reported that businesses were seeking skills in areas including information technology, finance, engineering and logistics.
Among the 521 enterprises surveyed, 34.9% identified TVET qualifications as the educational level they sought. The survey also highlighted communication, critical thinking and teamwork as important workplace skills.
This does not mean that every unemployed young person lacks skills, or that every graduate is unprepared. It points to an uneven fit between some training programmes and particular jobs, and to a need for graduates to gain practical experience alongside qualifications.
The gap also affects employers. Kenya’s 2022 Employer Skills and Occupations Survey was designed to assess available skills and occupations, while the Ministry of Labour has described skills mismatch as a concern for industry and the wider economy.
What needs to change?#
Tanui’s proposals address the transition from training to work. Employers can help colleges identify the tasks, technologies and capabilities needed in particular jobs. They can also offer structured industrial attachments and apprenticeships, provide workplace mentors, and give colleges feedback on trainees’ performance.
Training institutions, in turn, need to use that feedback to review courses and give students opportunities to practise relevant skills. Trainers also need access to current industry knowledge and equipment. Government has a role in supporting trainers, setting standards, improving labour-market information and ensuring practical placements are not limited to a few institutions or regions.
Digital skills should be part of this effort, but they need to connect to real work. Using digital tools in a workshop, farm, hospital, office or business requires more than familiarity with technology, it requires training shaped around the work itself.
More from Kenya
What is Kenya already doing?#
The challenge is serious, but Kenya has expanded its TVET system and begun building stronger links with employers. A Ministry of Education report says the number of public and private TVET institutions rose from 2,401 in the 2022/23 financial year to 2,969 in 2024/25. Enrolment in public TVET institutions overseen by the ministry increased from 345,387 to 565,842 over the same period.
The report also records concrete industry partnerships, in 2024/25, a dual-training model was being implemented in 65 institutions, with 7,876 trainees and 2,583 industry partners. The model is intended to combine institution-based learning with industry training.
Digital-skills programmes are another part of the response. The government says its Jitume Digital Hub initiative equips young people with digital skills and access to digital services and opportunities. In June 2025, it launched a hub at Mazeras Vocational Training Centre in Kwale County, equipped with 50 computers.
These figures show growth and activity, but they do not on their own prove that the skills gap is closing. The same education-sector report identifies continuing constraints, including inadequate funding, infrastructure and staffing, as well as weak industry engagement and a shortage of labour-market data. It also reported a trainer-to-trainee ratio of 1:55, which the department said was below the World Bank’s recommended 1:25.
How does Kenya compare with Africa?#
Kenya’s challenges reflect a wider continental pattern. The African Union and OECD report that African workers can lack the specific skills required for available jobs, while economies also struggle to generate enough quality employment.
Their 2024 report cites research across six African countries in which employers said many secondary-school graduates did not meet expectations in technical skills, digital, business and management skills, or soft skills. The report also found that only 30% of TVET trainers in Africa had recent experience in companies related to the sectors they teach. That figure is continental, not specific to Kenya.
The African Union’s Continental TVET Strategy for 2025–2034 calls for stronger systems built around quality, inclusion, partnerships, knowledge-sharing, technology and innovation. It provides a shared framework for African countries; it does not mean they are all implementing the same programmes or have achieved the same results.
Kenya’s expanding TVET network and its dual-training partnerships give it a platform to respond. The test is whether training leads to relevant work experience and better job prospects, not simply whether more colleges open or enrolment rises. Tanui’s call in Eldoret sets out the direction: bring employers into training more directly and connect new technologies to practical skills. The impact will depend on whether those partnerships become consistent, adequately resourced pathways from learning into work.