Relationship between Technical and Vocational Acquired Skills and Skills Required in Job Market; Evidence from TVET Institutions, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Skills are a key driver for growth, employment and competitiveness: they lay the foundation for produc tivity and innovation. Investment in training is also an inves tment in innovation, since much technical change re sults from incremental innovations by skills workers and engin eers on the factory floor. The purpose of this pap er is to assess the relationship between technical and vocational a cquired skills and skills required in job market. T he study used questionnaires to collect data from 200 former grad uates in technical and Vocational Education and Tra ining (TVET) in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Study findings provide precursory evidence that some of the skill provided in TVET like Interpersonal skills, Personal qualiti es, Ability to use numerical data, Critical analysi s, teamwork and experience are below what is required in the job ma rket. Nevertheless, TVET institutions were offering adequate skills equal to what employers require such as Mana gement skills, Thinking skills and Creativity and i nnovative skills .As such to focus on achieving Millennium De velopmental Goals (MDGs), Policies and approaches t o technical and vocational education and training (TV ET) need to undergone major re-adjustment to upgrad e the skills of those employed in new industries.