Roundup: Kenya lauds Chinese firm's role in technical skills transfer

Chinese technical firm, AVIC International, has been lauded for empowering Kenyan students in technical training institutes by upgrading their technical skills which enable them to get quality jobs or become entrepreneurs.

Kenyan Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Dinah Mwinzi, said on Tuesday evening during the launch of the third season of Africa Tech Challenge (ATC) that technical and vocational education training (TVET) in the country in undergoing reforms to make it attractive to the young people.

"It has not been easy to convince Kenyan youth on TVET because they consider it as second fiddle in learning therefore since 2003 we have been reorganizing our vocational learning to make it more attractive to the youth," the PS said in Nairobi.

The Africa Tech Challenge is a venture that is committed to promote the local economy with a keen focus on youth, including training, job creation and resource support.

After training, the students compete amongst themselves and the most outstanding are selected and awarded.

The project, which was launched in June 2014 by AVIC as corporate social responsibility in conjunction with Kenya's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has for the past two years transformed the lives of many students by offering them internships and opportunities to advance their studies.

During the second season, three students were awarded with full master's scholarships to study in China whereas the top six teams were granted monetary awards and three students given scholarships by AVIC.

During this year's third phase of ATC, teams from Uganda, Ghana and Zambia will take part in the challenge, making it an international competition.

Mwinzi said the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has enough money for TVET students and encouraged them to seek the funding, adding that last year the learners did not exhaust their quota allocation of the money.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa said Kenya has achieved profound development on its economy and society that has seen Nairobi grow to be the epicenter of commerce, finance and transportation.

"China and Kenya have been establishing and ushering in a new era of enhanced friendly relations and fruitful cooperation among various fields that include technology upgrading, human capital cultivation and knowledge exchange," Liu remarked, adding that in recent years, Sino-Kenyan relations have maintained a good momentum of comprehensive development.

The Chinese envoy said as one of the representatives among over 3,000 Chinese companies in Africa, AVIC International has been working to empower African youth and equip them with upgrading industrial skills.

The winner of last year's competition, Charity Ojoo, disclosed that she will be awarded with a scholarship to pursue her master's studies in China upon graduating from Kenyatta University this year. Endit