Fridah Murage Becomes The First Student At Gichugu Technical And Vocational College
Gichugu Technical and Vocational College
By Raymond Wanjohi
Worth Noting:
- Murage, who hails from the village, has enrolled for Cosmetology course, joined by hundreds of other students who are yearning to nature their academic careers.
- “I am greatly happy to be the first student to enroll into this great institution. I have stayed at home for for six years, but I believe it is never too late to embark on my journey towards excellence,” she said.
- “This is a unique TVT in Gichugu and I believe more learners will enroll. I want to motivate my fellow youths to join this facility and upgrade their skills,” she added.
- As the country celebrates 100 years since the inception of TVET institutions, residents of Kiambatha village prides themself of having a new facility which they term as their ‘newborn’.
For six years, Fridah Murage has not had a chance to advance her education career since she sat for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and scored a mean grade of C plain.
Murage is now the first student to enroll at Gichugu Technical and Vocational College, a new ultramodern institution that has been constructed by the Ministry of Education through the State department for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET).
The college is located at Kiambatha village in Gichugu Constituency, Kirinyaga County, at the slopes of Mt Kenya.
Murage, who hails from the village, has enrolled for Cosmetology course, joined by hundreds of other students who are yearning to nature their academic careers.
“I am greatly happy to be the first student to enroll into this great institution. I have stayed at home for for six years, but I believe it is never too late to embark on my journey towards excellence,” she said.
“This is a unique TVT in Gichugu and I believe more learners will enroll. I want to motivate my fellow youths to join this facility and upgrade their skills,” she added.
As the country celebrates 100 years since the inception of TVET institutions, residents of Kiambatha village prides themself of having a new facility which they term as their ‘newborn’.
The college is a product of the national government’s efforts in entrenching and improving the quality of TVET institutions at the grassroots.
Currently, registration of learners is ongoing at the institution, and it is expected to open its doors on August 19, 2024.
President William Ruto will in September officially open the facility so as to empower youth to contribute to nation building.
The institution is expected to not only transform the remote village but also earmark the region as the center for mechanical engineering training.
Once it takes off, the facility will receive part of the 4,840 trainers who have been reskilled by the State department for TVET on the new Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) program.
According to the college’s principal Joseph Kimemia, the government has so far allocated Sh100 million to purchase learning equipment.
“This mega institution will not only transform this village but the entire Central Kenya region because it is one of the colleges earmarked by the government to be centers of mechanical engineering training in the country,” the principal said.
Kimemia said he has so far registered over 400 trainees for various courses and anticipates absorbing 1,000 students once it is officially opened by the Head of State.
He said that the institution will continue registering learners and attain its capacity of 3,000 progressively.
Kimemia said President Ruto’s administration is keen on transforming this country by ensuring that every constituency gets at TVET institution.
“We have over the years tried to convince our young people to let go of the belief injected to them by their forefathers that TVET learning was meant for failures. We are at a moment where TVET learning is no longer an option but a choice. Under the technical training program, we no longer discuss grades but what individual students can do,” Kimemia said.
The principal, jointly with the office of area MP Robert Gichumu, has been sensitizing the community on the need to take up technical courses so as to spur economic growth of the region.
“This college, in partnership with the NG-CDF, has invited banking institutions to enlighten our new learners on how to apply for HELB as well as how to manage their resources throughout their career. We are the foot soldiers of the government, and we commit ourselves towards delivering our best,” Kimemia said.
“TVET is celebrating 100 years. We are happy that we have been born. Though we are the last TVET to be opened in this county, we will emerge giants and scale great heights,” he added.
Gichugu NG-CDF board chairman Geofrey Kariuki said they injected Sh12 million towards construction of the institution, adding that more resources will be allocated towards ensuring its smooth running.
“The office of MP will support the students with bursary funds as well as encouraging investors to set up high rise rental and hostel facilities for the learners. We know that banking institutions will also set base at this village and that is why, as a government, we are there to create that conducive environment for investment,” Kariuki said.
Area resident Rose Thiguku said they have started portioning their pieces of land so as to construct residential houses that will host students and staff who will join the new college.
“We are determined to uproot our tea and coffee plantations so as to construct hostels and rental houses for our children and trainers. We have waited for this institution for many years. We are glad because our talented youths will get the opportunity of exploring them and amassing more knowledge,” said Thiguku.
Sarah Njoki, another resident, said the college will also contribute to the growth of the economy in the remote village and create wealth.
“We are grateful because this college will transform our lifestyle positively. When we were giving out this piece of land to the government, we were optimistic that our local youths would one day join their counterparts who have been playing a critical role in building this country after completing their training,” Njoki said.
Already, investors have started purchasing land to build rental houses and hostels for the anticipated rise in population.
In March this year, President Ruto announced that his administration had received Sh13 billion funding from the Chinese government to install ultra-modern learning equipment in TVETs institutions countrywide.
He said the funding would equip 70 TVET institutions, adding that they will be crucial in improving the quality of skills transfer.
The Head of State also disclosed that the Italian government had committed to equip 40 additional institutions countrywide.
“We are in the process of equipping 70 TVET institutions with the state-of-the art equipment, in partnership with the government of China. The funding of Sh13 billion was approved this morning,” President Ruto said at the Nyeri National Polytechnic where he lit the flame to mark 100 years since the inception of TVET institutions in the country.
“Another 40 institutions will be equipped by the government of Italy to improve the quality of learning and the skills transferred to the young people,” he said.
Currently, Kenya has 223 technical training institutions and 24 national polytechnics.
The President announced that the government is recruiting 2,000 additional tutors and that they intend to increase the number to over 4,000.
He said that his government, through the ministry of education, has overhauled the curriculum assessment model in TVETs and aligned it to the Constitution.
“We resolved that we needed a different assessment tool for our TVET institutions. Many students used to fail exams in TVET institutions because they are poor in English language. For instance, when you are a mason, you don’t need to be perfect in English. If education is the key, then TVET is the master key,” President Ruto said.
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