IMPACT OF COMMUNITY ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL SKILLS ON YOUTH ENROLLMENT FOR SKILLS TRAINING: A CASE OF YOUTH POLYTECHNICS IN GATUNDU-KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Development of a countries economy greatly depends on human resource that is well equipped with the appropriate skills and training that can manage and steer growth of industries. Technical Vocational Education (TVET) has over the years been identified as efficient training strategy that can empower societies with the right skills thus enabling growth of informal and formal industries especially in developing countries. However in Kenya, the type of technical/vocational education offered before independence created a negative attitude where few students opt for technical/vocational education. This crippled creativity, innovation and acquisition of entrepreneurial skills, which is vital to the development of technologies that would lead to rural industrialization. Youth polytechnics have been identified as major centers for youth development and training, yet receive very low enrolment. Conversely there is a large number of idle and untrained youth in rural areas. This study investigated the influence of community attitudes towards Technical/Vocational Education on students' enrolment for training in the youth polytechnics in Gatundu district in Central Kenya. This paper singles out community attitudes as a key factor leading to low enrolment. The population of the study included community members from Gatundu district. Purposive, sampling techniques were used to select the study sample. An interview schedule was the instrument used for data collection. Content analysis was applied on the qualitative data collected. The findings indicated that negative community attitudes and poor image on youth polytechnics emerged as a major factor that highly influenced enrolment levels. These findings are likely to stimulate action on the restructuring the management of youth polytechnics to raise public appeal. This will position youth polytechnics as institutions that focus on addressing community needs and employment creation.