Young Africa Works-Kenya: Youth Employability Through TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) project is a partnership between Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), the Mastercard Foundation, the Kenyan Ministry of Education and the private sector.
The project focuses on strengthening the quality and relevance of TVET institutions and systems in Kenya for the key economic growth sectors identified under the Big Four agenda (manufacturing, universal healthcare, food security, affordable housing) and digital sectors. The project fosters partnerships between Kenyan and Canadian institutions to develop TVET Centres of Excellence (COEs) that will increase the participation of youth, particularly women, in market-relevant skills training programs to ultimately increase the number of youth in dignified and fulfilling work.
A particular focus of the Young Africa Works-Kenya TVET project includes competency-based curriculum development, pre-service and in-service training of trainers, prior learning assessment and recognition, delivery of life skills/employability curricula, and establishing work placements for trainees. The project also addresses the need for safe learning spaces to increase the participation of youth, specifically young women, in training that leads to employment.
The project consists of three broad objectives delivered in an integrated manner:
- TVET institutions deliver high quality Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) courses linked to labour market demands
- Technically competent TVET trainers use CBET methods to deliver up to date curricula
- Pathways created from unemployment through training to employment