Sangalo Institute of Science and Technology is among 13 technical institutes that are scheduled to be shut down by the Technical Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) following a four-day exercise that was led by Director General Dr. Kipkirui Langat.
The closure is meant to be a follow-up to several notices that were done in various local newspapers right from the year 2014 advising institutions to apply for registration and accreditation in accordance with the TVETA Act 2013.
The closure of various institutions has been used as a measure to ensure that only accredited institutions operate and the prospective trainees get quality training as per the provisions of the Kenya Constitution.
The closure of institutions comes as a result of complaints that have been made by members of the public on institutions offering internal certificates and also inquiries from prospective employers on qualifications and more so students admitted to programmes not approved by the relevant statutory bodies. Other complaints include private institutions not paying their trainers promptly thus compromising the quality of training.
So far TVETA has denied 74 institutions each with an enrolment of 1500 trainees registration for not meeting minimum set standards. 582 institutions have been accredited and 152 institutions have been recommended for improvements.
Eng. Nerbert Muriuki, the Chairman of TVETA said, “It is our mandate to ensure training for relevance, access, equity, and high quality and ensure students get value for their money.”
The CEO of Kenya National Qualification Authority said that plans are underway to come up with a qualification framework and common currency standards to try and curb varying lengths and competencies within institutions. That way, moving forward will be easier without legal hindrances.
Dr. Kipkirui Langat said that “TVETA will continue to honor its commitments to Kenyans in ensuring it works with relevant professional bodies in the sector to enhance access to quality education programmes by continuously inspecting the technical institutions and updating the public on the same.”
