Safaricom Foundation’s TVET Programme Kicks Off With Online Learning

Three hundred students who have been shortlisted for Safaricom Foundation’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programme will begin online classes on 22^nd June.  The foundation has partnered with Zizi Afrique Foundation and ToolKit iSkills, a social enterprise organisation, to roll out a TVET programme with a focus on plumbing, welding, food and beverage as well as electrical engineering.

 Over seventy students who do not have access to smartphones will receive free devices courtesy of the foundation to enable them access eLearning materials as they await re-opening of learning institutions. “We want to empower the students who have been shortlisted for the Safaricom Foundation TVET scholarship programme to commence learning,” said Steve Chege, Trustee, Safaricom. “The students who have been enrolled for the programmes have not been able to attend classes because of the partial lockdown and we want to enable them begin classes via online platforms”, he added.

The programme that was launched in March will see an information and communications technology (ICT) enabled skills centre set up in Nairobi’s Waithaka Vocational Training Centre.  Close to one thousand students will receive TVET scholarships over the next two years across various institutions. 

 “Through this scholarship programme, we want to reach some of the most vulnerable youth  across the country and give them access to training opportunities in employable areas, and increase transition to employment”, said Renaldah Mjomba from Zizi Afrique. The first cohort consisting   of one hundred students will be based at the Waithaka Vocational Training Centre, while another two hundred   will be spread across twelve other institutions around the country.