Education, Science & Technology

Dr. George Akolo Lutomia Minister for Education, Science and Technology

The functions that have been devolved in the ministry include Early Childhood Development Education and Youth Polytechnics.

The plan for ECD is to hire teachers with competency meaning the minimum qualification they should posses is a certificate in this field. This will be rolled out between September and January.

There are more than 2, 000 primary schools and other registered public ECD centers in the county. About 3000 teachers are trained to handle ECD level classes. We will ensure that we develop capacity by encouraging public institutions to train more teachers at certificate and diploma levels.

Modern county polytechnics will be put up to increase enrollment in these institutions as part of plans to develop a skilled workforce. There’s very low enrolment in these polytechnics at this time and most of them are day schools. Sh. 150 million has been set aside in the budget to develop these county polytechnics. In a bid to improve on skills and self employment, we intend to have at least one polytechnic in each ward

We shall put up boarding facilities to increase enrolment. We also intend to develop curriculum that will include short courses.  A lot of publicity in these institutions will be undertaken to change the attitude most people have about polytechnics.

Some don’t have signage and are in dire need of a facelift. This will involve appropriate branding and equipping them with modern buses for field trips. New workshops will be built for practical lessons. To improve the curriculum, the youth polytechnics will partner with the national polytechnics to develop relevant market- driven skills.

These polytechnics will enable us to absorb would be Class 8 and Form 4 leavers. Many of our youth have rushed to join the bodaboda business in the hope of making money after school and end up dropping out entirely. This should be changed to bring these young people back to school and reduce the high levels of unemployment.

People above the age of 35, who might not be considered as youth are also encouraged to join these institutions. They will be offering refresher courses to keep those who have already gone through the system relevant in their respective professions.