Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua urged students from Nyeri National Polytechnic to prioritize the acquisition of technical skills. This according to the Deputy President would help the students realize their full potential.
He was speaking on Saturday during an interaction session with the students from the institution. He was headed to the Mt Kenya Golf festival open tournament where he was invited as the chief guest.
While he was speaking to them, he mentioned that this would be a direct step to help the students realize their potential. In addition to that, this would equally help in reducing the unemployment gap that exists in the state.
” On my way to the Mt Kenya Golf Festival open tournament, I interacted with students of the Nyeri National Polytechnic. I urged them to remain focused on gaining the much needed technical skills,” the DP posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Furthermore, the deputy insisted that the President William Ruto led administration is intentional on Technical and Vocational Training institutions offering as many skills as possible. These skills, will enable most students to seek self-employment rather than dependence on white collar jobs that are saturated at the moment.
White Collar Job Employment
With the current state of the country, companies are more intentional on letting go of workers than employing them. The employers have a host of payments to make including the housing fund that was introduced by the Finance Act 2023, creating a financial burden on them. Consequently, this has created a need for downsizing in the companies which includes letting go of workers.
There has equally been increasing cases of students being unable to get internships at organizations due to the current downsizing effects. This has led to some being unable to graduate and others, unable to progress into their career and get formal employment.
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Some examples of technical skills include culinary arts, cosmetology, carpentry, plumbing, and tailoring among others. There have been businesses started due to the earning of these skills. Businesses such as, setting up of a catering business, opening up a bakery or a pastry shop, starting a plumbing agency and even setting up a salon or a spa.
In the age of Artificial Intelligence threatening various industries, vocational skills are not as threatened as other skills. AI is yet to gain sufficient capability to do what humans can do in these fields. Therefore, the students would manage to get ahead of AI in these fields and gain expertise in them.
Most students look down on the idea of gaining a vocational skill due to the glorification of white collar jobs that exists today. Over time, if no one pays attention to the field, we may never manage to make up for the gap that will be left due to its neglection.
Other Kenyan leaders and officials accompanied the deputy President to the tournament.
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