From August 2019 to July 2021, we carried out a development-cooperation project in Kenya titled Better Access to Skills for Youth in Marsabit County. Its main goal was to help reduce youth unemployment in Kenya by building practical skills. The project was carried out in Marsabit County, where youth unemployment remains high. The specific goal was therefore to improve young people’s access to practical skills specifically in Marsabit County. The site of the intervention was the Salesian apprenticeship school Don Bosco Technical Institute Marsabit in the county capital, where with SlovakAid support we had already carried out a project to support the education of women — between 2016 and 2018 we opened a tailoring course and a hairdressing and cosmetics course at the apprenticeship school.
The 2019–2021 project had three planned results, designed to follow on smoothly from the previous project. The first planned result was the opening of a new electrical-engineering course specializing in solar technologies, since there is high demand for electrical-engineering skills in Marsabit County. To achieve this result, one course building was renovated and equipped, although the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant delays to construction work and the delivery of equipment. The electrical-engineering course was finally opened in May 2021, when pandemic restrictions allowed. By the end of the project, the course had 6 students. The low number was due to the fact that, because of the pandemic, the previous school year had not yet been closed at many schools in Kenya — since prospective electrical-engineering students had not yet had the chance to complete their education by taking final exams at their schools, they were unable to start studying at the apprenticeship school either. Another factor in the low number of students was people’s fear of the COVID-19 virus — many young people were not allowed by their parents to enrol at the apprenticeship school for fear of infection, and some young people were put off continuing their studies by the repeated lockdowns.
The second planned result of the project was higher employability of graduates. Within the project, two career-orientation training sessions were held, attended by 55 young people. Students were introduced to topics such as setting personal goals, preparing a good CV, doing well in interviews, work ethic, practical skills, self-employment and turning a business idea into reality. The other activities planned under the second result (distribution of start-up packages, placing graduates on the job market and accompanying graduates) will be carried out only after the project ends, when the electrical-engineering course will have its first graduates.
As the third result of the project, the plan was for better access to practical skills for women from rural areas. Girls from rural areas in Kenya generally have limited access to practical skills, mainly because of the long distances to apprenticeship schools and the lack of boarding facilities. Until recently, even Don Bosco Technical Institute Marsabit did not offer a girls’ boarding option. Thanks to the project, however, a girls’ boarding facility was built, in which 20 girls were accommodated over the course of 2 months, and the number of female students at the apprenticeship school rose from 28 in 2019 to 43 in 2021. For girls, the boarding facility means better access to apprenticeship education on their path towards self-reliance, which for women in Marsabit County is still a rarity.
We will continue to monitor the progress of activities and the achievement of project goals even after the project ends. The project was financially supported from SlovakAid resources through a grant of EUR 240,630. Co-financing of EUR 24,100 for the purchase of solar equipment for the electrical-engineering course was provided by the Swiss Salesian organization Don Bosco Jugendhilfe Weltweit. Thank you for the support.
