TVET colleges are ready to accommodate most students who failed to attain the KCSE qualification for university entry.

Principal Secretary for Technical, Vocational Education and Training Dr Esther Thaara Muoria has said the students should not be considered as failures.

“None of the students who didn’t get marks for university entry should feel they are failures. We will ensure they are accommodated in our TVET colleges so that they get necessary skills to fit in the labour market," she said.

The PS spoke in Eldoret where she presided over the opening of training on income generating activities for officers and TVET managers at the Rift Valley Technical Training Institute and the Eldoret National Polytechnic on Tuesday.

She was with the CEO of the Kenya School on TVET Dr Edwin Tarno, Principal of Eldoret Polytechnic Charles Koech and Principal of RVTTI Loice Yator.

More than 400,000 students got less than D+ in the recently released KCSE exam.

Muoria however said the willingness by the youth to be trained is the most important requirement than the marks they attained at lower levels.

The PS said she had already visited some of the colleges in the country which she found to be well equipped and with necessary capacity to offer quality training to youth.

“TVET institutions are the way to go because we want to have youth who are well trained with technical knowledge required in various fields, to help our country grow economically,” Muoria said.

She further, said the government will recruit 1,300 additional tutors for the TVETs in order to improve their training capacity.

"The government is also training of more than 3,100 managers for the TVET colleges to enhance their managerial capacity," Muoria said.

The PS said although the TVET colleges face a shortage of trainers countrywide the government would gradually increase staffing as part of the plans to ensure quality training.

“We will soon advertise for recruitment of trainers in our TVET colleges and already the government has allowed us to bring on board about 1,300 of them as soon as possible,” she said.

Muoria said the TVET managers were being trained to improve on their managerial skills so that they help to lead training that will help youth take the county to the next level of development.

Dr Tarno said all managers at the TVET colleges including finance officers and departmental heads would go through the training to improve on their managerial skills.

“The training was informed by a research done by UNESCO and Kenya School on TVET, which established that there were many gaps in the capacity of the managers to effectively run the colleges," he said.

The CEO said they expect the training to have a positive impact on the operations and management of the colleges.

The PS further said the TVET colleges would also be used for income generating activities and centres of innovation.