The Ministry of Youth Affairs has entered into an agreement with DOT Kenya to pilot the innovative and pioneering ReachUp! programme in government assisted Youth Polytechnics (YPs). DOT Kenya interns have began classes in two polytechnics – Nyaga Youth Polytechnic in Kiambu district and St.Patrick’s Youth Polytechnic in Makueni district.

Youth Polytechnics are basic education institutions intended to offer primary school leavers opportunities to acquire quality skills and knowledge to make them employable, while at the same time providing avenues and paths for attaining higher education through technical and vocational education. YPs equip the youth with technical and entrepreneurial skills based on appropriate technology enabling them unleash their entrepreneurial capacity to fully exploit local community resources for employment creation.

DOT’s ReachUp! programme builds upon the goals of the Youth Polytechnics, with the interns helping the participants to explore the opportunities that are available to them to create or seek employment opportunities. “We welcome the involvement of the like-minded partners, such as DOT, to help to build the capacity of the youth in our polytechnics,” said Killian Nyambu, Assistant Director, Training, at the Ministry of Youth Affairs. “For a long time the YPs have been viewed as institutions for failures but the Ministry (of Youth Affairs) wants to turn them into institutions of excellence.”

26 students from Nyaga and 13 from St. Patrick’s completed the training in the month of October. The programme has been met with enthusiasm and registration for enrolment in the next cycle of training has been overwhelming. “I wish this training could reach out to all young people in Kenya,” enthused one participant in Nyaga, testifying to the relevance the programme has had in his life.

DOT Kenya would like to thank the officers under the Ministry of Youth Affairs in Kiambu and Makueni for their assistance in getting the pilot up and running. We also thank the management of Nyaga and St.Patrick’s for all their hospitality and support to our interns, Robina Guchu (Nyaga) and Nicholas Musyoka (St. Patrick’s).