EFFICACY OF TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN REALIZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH

Abstract

UNESCO, World Bank and different countries including Kenya have placed education and training as a central tool towards youth employability and realization of the industrialization agenda. Despite the dying industries and increase in demand for employability skill in training, TVET graduates have inadequate employability skills. The study was tasked to investigate the efficacy of Technical Education in Kenya towards attaining Sustainable Development in the light of pragmatic theory as postulated by John Dewey. The research objectives were to: Examine the objectives of TVET in Kenya in light of pragmatic theory towards lifelong learning, assess lived experiences of Principals and Industrial Liaison Officers on TVET practices linking training and industry towards attaining trainee empowerment and establish how Dewey’s concepts of democracy can facilitate TVET in Kenya to realize Sustainable Development. The study sought to answer the following research questions: what are the objectives of TVET in Kenya in light of pragmatic theory towards lifelong learning, what lived experiences of principals and Industrial Liaison Officers on TVET practices linking training and industry towards attaining trainee empowerment and how can Dewey’s concepts of democracy facilitate TVET in Kenya towards realizing Sustainable Development. The study used constructivism paradigm and a philosophical design that adopted Philosophical analysis and synthesis methods for objectives one and three. Hermeneutic phenomenology was adopted in collecting and analyzing the lived experiences of Principals and ILOs. Both Primary sources and secondary sources were used. Finally, the synthesis method was adopted to establish the applicability of Dewey’s democratic concept in TVET institutions towards attaining trainee empowerment. Data analysis was done through thematic analysis and Interpretive Phenomenological analysis. The findings revealed that TVET is committed in training for skill development, social efficiency and democratic participation however skill development has been overemphasized. In objective two, the study found out that the shared lived experiences of both Principals and ILOs are industrial collaboration and institutional hubs and dual training is vital in reinventing TVET for attaining lifelong learning among TVET graduates. In the third objective, the study established that Dewey’s Democratic concept can facilitate TVET in realizing Sustainable development through learner centered training and collaborations. The study recommends promotion of holistic competency training, promotion of dual training in institutional hubs and industry and finally, explicitly embrace adopt democratic concept in CBET implementation towards attaining Sustainable Development.