Thika Tech. Is Kenya’s 1st Institute To Adopt The ‘Smart Classroom’ En-route To Being A National Polytechnic.
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| The Administrative Secretary in the State Department of Vocational & Technical Training Samuel Joseph Otieno ( 2nd left) presenting a certificate to a top student. Looking on is The Principal Thika Technical Mr. Jefferson Kariuki (holding envelope). |
They are among the first 10 selected TTIs in the country to
be Centers of Excellence and has from this uplift, benefited with among other
things, being modernised with 21st century learning facilities fully
integrated with ICT based learning specifically designed for Technical
Industrial Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TIVET) and the provision
of digitised and automated equipment and orientation training on their use
through human capacity building and curriculum development.
In its endeavour to attain full industrialisation by the
year 2030, the government had intensified efforts through education by
increasing equitable access of technical training to all youth. Towards this end,
there are plans to construct over 130 new technical and vocational colleges countrywide,
60 of which are already complete.
“All these new institutes will be equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment that will ensure not only the quality and relevance of the programmes,
but also for international competitiveness. I am happy to note that Thika
Technical Institute is mentoring three of these institutions namely; Murang’a Technical
Training Institute (Maragua), Mwea Technical Training Institute (Mwea) and
Kirinyaga Technical Training Institute (Gichugu),” said the Principal
Secretary, Ministry of Education State Department of Vocational & Technical
Training Dr. Dinah Jerotich C. Mwinzi in a speech read on her behalf by the
Administrative Secretary in the State Department of Vocational & Technical Training
Samuel Joseph Otieno during the 6th Graduation Ceremony of TTTI.
The move has seen the Thika facility become the first institute
in the country to adopt the ‘Smart Classroom’ that enhances the introduction of
student-centred learning, interdisciplinary work, competence-based education
and Training (CBET) through presentations (digital lessons), investigations and
simulations (through on-screen simulations and virtual experiments), practical
exercises, project and group work.
“Thika Technical Institute has a ‘smart classroom’, the
first of its kind in the country and among the 10 virtual classrooms in the
world where they can actually design and produce an item in the lab and go out
there and produce it meaning that they will not need any other ‘on-the-job’ training.
This implies that the students get out of this institution ready to be employed,”
said Otieno in an interview later.
To respond to emerging trends and market demands, a number of
provisional standards have been developed and various competence based curriculum
are being rolled out. The PS noted that TTTI had taken advantage of this development
by offering short-term skill training courses in a variety of disciplines and
was among 44 other institutions that had embraced e-learning through flexible
and blended modes of delivery.
The Principal Thika Technical Mr. Jefferson N. Kariuki said
that as an institution, they were very ready to assume the upgraded status
which according to him was quite necessary for an institution of their caliber.
He welcomed all those youth who dropped out of school before joining
institutions of higher learning, saying that they were offering all kinds of certificate
and diploma courses that were relevant to this country. He added that the
government was offering bursaries and loans to their students thus no reason
for anyone to stay at home.
TTTI offers 8 departments with about 49 diploma and 18
certificate programmes in various specialisations. This year saw 855 graduants conferred
with both diploma and certificates. It is the leading institution in the
country in terms of offering open and distant learning programmes with this
year having the first group of graduants in this category.
They have already trained 1,600 student in short-course
programmes.
Thika Technical Training Institute started in 1949 as a
vocational training centre for the World War II servicemen, offering just
elementary book-keeping, masonry and dressmaking courses. Since 1986 when it
was converted into a technical training institute after the introduction of the
8-4-4 education system, it has managed to train over 12,000 students.
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