Council of Governors partners with Godrej Kenya to launch hairdressing programmes for TVETs

Over 20,000 youth are expected to be trained in hairdressing and beauty therapy under the Wezesha Youth programme in a bid to grow local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while supporting the reduction in unemployment among youth.

The programme – a partnership between the Council of Governors and Godrej Group of Companies – will be rolled out nationwide as part of the national government competence based education for vocational training centres.

Speaking during the launch of the programme at Chebigen Vocational Training Centre in Kericho, Godrej Kenya CEO Gaurav Kaushal said that the company recognizes that vocation training enhances sustainable enterprise development in Kenya.

“Through the hairdressing and beauty therapy training, we hope that our youth will be empowered to identify and seize emerging opportunities that can help Kenya sustain its productivity. They will also be provided with financial literacy, communication and business skills to enable them hone their entrepreneurial skills,” said Mr. Kaushal.

In the last two years, Godrej Kenya has  ran a pilot programme  where 1000 youths in vocational training centres  in Nairobi, Kitui, Trans Nzoia, Migori, Machakos, Kisii and Uasin Gishu counties have been  trained. Based on the lessons of the pilot phase, the Wezesha Youth programme was redesigned for sustainability and scale.

The next phase of the programme will target 20,000 youth in 22 counties in ultra-modern designed training labs. “Through this programme, we envision to create an employable workforce among under privileged youth from informal settlements in urban and rural Kenya,” added Mr. Kaushal.