Kenya and Canada will collaborate on improving skills and employability prospects for Kenya’s youth thanks to a new initiative that will see Colleges and Institutes Canada work with two Kenyan organisations to fund research at Kenyan Technical and Vocational Education Training Institutions.
The project, enabled by a $1 million research grant on Promoting Employment, Entrepreneurship and Industry Competitiveness in Kenya, from Canada’s International Development Research Centre, will see CICan work with Linking Industry with Academia and Rift Valley Technical Training Institute.
“The SITVES fund…aims to foster Kenya’s innovation and applied research system in order to promote sustainable economic growth”
“We are thrilled to launch the Supporting Innovation in the Technical and Vocational Education Sector fund, which aims to foster Kenya’s innovation and applied research system in order to promote sustainable economic growth,” CICan president and CEO Denise Amyot told The PIE News.
The three stakeholders will collaborate on implementing the SITVES project, which will support Kenyan TVET institutions to carry out action-based and industry-oriented applied research in close collaboration with local hubs, start-ups, academia and the private sector.
The project is articulated on three pillars: establishing applied research hubs in collaboration with industry and local government, promoting gender equality in TVET, and supporting competitive action research contributing to the development of local communities.
CICan will draw on its member network’s expertise to ensure the success of the new Kenyan TVET Innovation Hubs through a competitive call for proposals to provide technical assistance, Amyot said.
“Canadian scholars and institutions will not be eligible to access the sub-grants themselves as they are intended to provide Kenyan researchers, students and faculty with opportunities and resources to find solutions to local problems,” she explained.
“That said, they will play a very important role in the initiative as they contribute to develop tools and help guide the successful Kenyan grant recipients in the development and strengthening of innovation and applied research hubs at their institutions.”
