The government is strengthening technical and vocational education to enhance the country’s capacity to offer practical training, President William Ruto has said.

The objective is to use the power of technical vocational education and training (TVET) to push the potential of young people to positively contribute to economic growth.

He pointed out that the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) was designed to accelerate economic growth by investing in critical pillars that create employment for millions of skilled youth.

“As we implement policies, programmes and projects which create jobs for the youth, we must simultaneously equip millions of young Kenyans with the education, training and skills necessary to enhance their productivity in a dynamic, globalised and competitive labour market,” he said.

He made the remarks on Tuesday during the centenary celebrations of TVET in Kenya at the Nyeri National Polytechnic.

This financial year, the government has allocated KSh28.3 billion to TVET institutions.

“We intend to keep raising the budgetary allocation in future until we achieve an optimal level of investment,” he said.

The government is also recruiting 2,000 TVET tutors, with the goal of increasing the total number to 4,000.

The President announced that China has approved KSh13 billion for Kenya to support 70 TVET institutions with state-of-the-art equipment.

Present were Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, MPs and MCAs.