The Ministry of Education has partnered with Google to develop an Android Developer Skills masterplan to be used in Technical, Vocational and Educational Institutions (TVETs). The 6-month initiative aims to train 300 TVET tutors bringing intermediate-level skills in Android application development to 10,000 students in 50 institutions.
Speaking at the TVET Developer Training Launch Ceremony held at the Kenya Technical Training College (KTTC), Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the initiative would open up job opportunities for young people.
“Collaborations between governments and tech companies can drive digital transformation by growing the tech talent pipeline. Kenya is increasingly a place where innovation begins as developer communities across Kenya grow the developer ecosystem and drive creativity and entrepreneurship. Opening up a pathway for developer training through the TVET establishment has the potential to accelerate this growth, create new jobs and drive even greater innovation.”
Read: Kenya Among Top Five African Countries With the Highest Number of Software Developers
Kenya has 60,000 professional developers, accounting for 9 percent of all developers in Africa. Out of these, some are self taught, while others have obtained their skills from universities.
Google’s Director for Government Affairs and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Charles Murito said the partnership would help cement Kenya’s position as a leading tech start-up and innovation destination in Africa.
“It underlines our work in supporting Kenya’s developer and startup ecosystem over the past decade, in which we have trained 15k developers, helped hundreds of thousands affordably access the internet, trained them in other digital skills and invested in Kenyan startups,” Mr Murito said.
Kenya has 116 TVET institutes in the Ministry of Education, 130 in other line ministries, over 800 county-run vocational training centers, and over 700 private institutions. The Software Developer Hub will be at KTTC, with each participating TVET developing student developer groups.
In 2021, TVETs admitted 137,072 students while 134,690 enrolled in University.
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