 Welcome back. Welcome back. This is still Why the Morning. I hope you joined us earlier for the little conversation that we had with the presenter Marcos Tez. And now we are getting to our first conversation of the day on Entrepreneurship Tuesday. And we want to highlight or take a look at opportunities in Tibet and why our Tibet institutions on the rise today, especially now. So for this, we are joined by Barnard Ghishuhi, who's the Dean of Professional Studies at TransAfric College. Kareem Musena. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Stephanie. Glad to have you with us. Thank you. Okay. You want to tell us a little bit about yourself? Okay. Thank you. My name is Barnard Maena Ghishuhi. I'm from Dika TransAfric College. I'm the Dean of Student as well as the Dean of Professional Studies. Okay. Yeah. So we want to know, according to your story, you know, Tibet institutions. For someone who doesn't know about what Tibet institution offers, how different it is, you know, maybe tell us about Tibet institution. What do you have? What is it about? Well, thank you, Stephanie. To our viewers, then we usually say that Tibet in food is technical, vocational, education and training. This is the institutions established by government that are the Art, Activate Act of 2013. And majorly, they have to help in career development for those who either they drop out in KCP, the primary school, as well as those in KCSE, they scored CEPRAS and BRO. Okay. So, initially, the main aim is to develop careers and help the candidates or students to be able to get hands-on skills that they can be able to be employed in the job market. Okay. All right. That's career development. Career development, basically. Yes. Thank you. And is it mostly around that category of people that you've mentioned, those that are school dropouts or those that got CEPRAS and BRO, can anyone else go to a Tibet institution? Maybe you scored an A, but you can't afford to go to a university. Is it a possibility? Yes. Thank you. Let me say this, Stephanie. The initial aim was to help those who scored BRO CEPRAS, because by then they were not qualifying to go directly to university, but nowadays you have seen in the rise that even those who qualify, those who scored above CEPRAS are all there to A. They are now choosing to go to Tibet institutions because the opportunities there are many and our time to study is again very short and you are given hands-on skills for employment job, for the job market. So it's more better off in Tibet than I would say that in the universities and the rest. Okay. Yes. The benefits are because you get hands-on skills and what else have you mentioned? I have seen also the programs which are offered there, they are interred into the job market. You are given practical skills which are aligned with what the market requires. The programs are well researched and again they are very well connected to the industry. It's really linked with the market. Okay. So if you're studying media, you know, you're studying exactly what the market needs. Exactly. You go to the market, they get what they are looking for. Exactly. All right. Then you find that even the mode of study is well connected to how the industry operates. You're in class at one point and the other you're practicing out there, it's still part of the study. Then you find that the way the program is delivered, it's supposed to help that candidate to be able to have the soft skills and hard skills which will enable him to be able to be absorbed in the job market as well as that person can still be able to employ him or herself easily. What is the structure in the TIVET institution? How long is the cost duration? Do they go for internship or attachment? When you say they go out the field, is that the field going to the work place now to do internships? Yes. Let me say this. You find that in TIVET, the structure, even we start from there, we have those TIVETs which are the national government and those which are the county government because career development is all around. It's supposed to be a consultative platform for both levels of government. So you find that we have those which are in village polytechnics as well as those which are in the national. In the national we have the technical and vocational as well as those which are institutions of our technology. Then you find that the program, since colleges by nature they are not supposed to offer the programs themselves, they only train. They're examining parties with a different example. Then you find that those bodies have different levels of requirement. For those, for instance, undertaking courses in NETA and ICM, the program is you are in class for instance for certificate for two years divided into one module for every year. So after every module, there is the attachment part of it for three months. You go to, you are praised with an industry player, then you are trained there on job training. You get the skills. Then after the course, you go for internship, which is mandatory. So that now after you are through the course, you are ready for the job. Okay. Yes. Wow, amazing. So how, because you've mentioned two years, how different is it from a diploma, someone doing a diploma in a university? You find that in the Kenyan National Convocation Framework, then a certificate, or then start from the raw grades at CERN, at CERN is for those who are either scored in the KACSE, they either got a grade E or D minus, or even those who are failed, or those who didn't go to secondary schools, then you find that they have only KACPA. Those ones, they're supposed to be trained for at least one year. One year, okay. Then they progress to craft certificate for two years. Then after that, diploma is supposed to be for three years according to Kenyan National Convocation Framework. Then after that, they can progress to university, you want to do bachelors, and then it goes online class. Okay. Yeah. So basically you're giving an opportunity for someone to start from scratch, and level up to an extent where they can get a masters in another institution after they're done with their diploma. Because we usually believe in that there is no failure, whether you scored an A or a D or an E in KACSE, there is no failure. So you find that those who score those raw grades, at one point they are in despair, they don't believe that they can make it in life, but Tivet is supposed to be able to be the hope for them. So that we say that even after you have scored that grade, in career-wise, you can be able to acquire a skill that you can be able to earn a living on care after. And that, there's a way with the perception that Tivet institutions are for those that failed. We are evolving from that, because now we are talking of on career development. Career development. Yes. Are you better sorted in Tivet or in university? Because job market, nowadays we are moving from papers. Okay. Yes. It's all you can do with a skill. So when you're looking at it for someone who wants to join an institution, what angle or what are the guidelines for someone to look at, for them to know if they want to join a Tivet institution or if they want to join a university? Because maybe they are qualified to join a university or a Tivet institution. Okay. So I said, basically whoever has scored KCS, in the KCSC, Cipras and Abaf, he's a candidate of university. But if he can choose to come back to Tivet, they do a diploma. Then that way they will have made their choice. But for those who scored below that, then they don't have an option. You must pass, in the career progression is that you must start from where your grade is classified, the cluster points. So what matters is, what was the KCSC grade? Yes. Now talking about that person who got a good KCSC grade, let's say B-plus, they're looking to either go for a Tivet institution or getting into a university, what are the options that, or what are the things that they should look at to decide on where they want to go. Is it the timeline? Is it the fee? You know. Okay. Thank you, Stephanie. I find that in Tivet, the course for the whole model cannot even exceed for one year in the university. So in terms of fees and the rest, that is more affordable. You find that in the whole year, for this as you can find, the school that you could pay for the whole year is maybe for one semester in the university. Secondary, nowadays the job market we are talking of, the skills. We are driven by skills. With some of the skills, you can take a shorter time to master them and you start earning from them. So you find that the time coverage, the time for covering a course is quite well within the limits. Again at a shorter, maybe with a lesser cost, and again the skills will be delivered on a platform that is in tandem with the industry. Okay. Yes. All right. Yes. And what are some of the courses being offered in Tivet institutions? So you should say in every sector which you find in university, the starting point is Tivet. Okay. You must start somewhere. You must, if you did this course, then, and you wanted to be a doctor, you must start somewhere. You want to be an engineer, for this electrical engineer or a mechanical. And you didn't get the cluster points. Then your starting point is diploma or certificate, then you progress. So whatever is in university is also being offered in Tivet. Yes. Okay. Yes. All sectors. And at that, because in universities, there are schools, universities known mostly for something, you know, let's say media, we have multimedia university, or KMC, KMAS, KMAS, you know, for engineering, we have FNAROBE university and all that. Do we, do we have Tivet institutions known for different things, especially? Well, the vision that we are taking, or the part that we are taking as a Tivet, nowadays is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, we are calling them STEM courses. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. So we want to focus on, since in Kenya, the Kenya that we want to have in 2030, according to vision 2030, we want to bring more of manufacturing in the economy. So in the 2030, Tivet is one of the neighbors of achievers, of achieving that goal. So whatever we are doing is that the courses that we are offering are well within the industry requirements. Okay. So we are majoring in technology, science, mathematics, and engineering. Engineering. Yes. All right. Yes. STEM courses. We have seen, you know, organizations, bodies trying to push for ladies, women to get into STEM courses, because there's an imbalance in that sector. So how are you seeing it in the Tivet institution you are in, and other Tivet institutions? Yes. Currently, the gala chart is doing very well. The uptake of the courses is on the rise. Okay. We can even say now. We are almost close to 40-60 parents in the STEM courses for both male and female students. Okay. So we are doing good. We are doing good. Ladies are embracing. Exactly. Is it like, are you on the technical courses, what are F2, the boy child? True. And now what is happening is that we are finding women or gala child in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, hospitality. Those industries were majorly considered to be male-dominated. And you find that the best part of it is that the penetration into the market, when you have those courses in here, it is already then, it's very, you have to absorb very fast. Yeah. Okay. So the balance is almost... We're getting a balance to this. Yes. Wow. That's some good news there. Yeah, exactly. And we're also talking about the rise of Tivet institutions, and I've read somewhere that technical and vocation education training Tivet courses are gaining traction in Kenya due to the mild support and attention they drew from the government. Exactly. So are you agreeing with this? Yes, we fully agree because if you look at the fiscal policy of the government for the last five years, we have seen more improvement in infrastructure development, more funding to the Tivet courses. Nowadays, we talk of even to be placed in a Tivet institution, you cannot apply through COPS, the Kenya universities and colleges placement board. Yeah. Secondary, the facilities that a college, a university student is getting, like HALB and the rest, are also being offered to the Tivet institutions. Yes. So government is deliberate because if you have to achieve the vision to that then one of the elements is we want to have more technicians or more people with the technical skills than the traditional university degrees or humanities. Okay. Yeah. So you're also agreeing to the fact that Tivet institutions are on the rise? Yes. So what do we expect to see now that they are on the rise? How are we to benefit? You and if you mentioned, this is in line with vision 2030 of the government. Yeah. I'll tell us more about it. What do we expect? What should we expect now that the institutions are rising? Okay. In the near future, then we'll be talking of we either have two courses and one to be fundamental is a technical course. Shall we come again? In the near future, either you have two courses, two courses, yes, because it's going to be fundamental that you must be having a technical skill in an area. Okay. You find that in the level of technology coming in, then you find that the skills which are being offered currently, especially in business or humanities, they are being quite taken over by technology. Right. But you find that with the technical skill, the elimination due to the rate of technology is quite minimal. Okay. Yeah. To survive in a mechanized industry or economy that we are trying to achieve as a Kenya, then you require, at least, you can do something with your skill, technical. So in the manufacturing, in the transport, in service industry, in banking everywhere. Tell us a little bit about the technical bits of the different industries so that people understand what they're missing. For instance, tech media, the dead media. So what is it that media people, professionals, rather, will need to add on the technical side of it? What is it that someone in the hospitality doing catering or something will need to add from the technical side? Majorly, what we are trying to achieve is you have a long course. For instance, if you have done food and beverage, that's a long course. So you require a long course. You have trained overall what you can do in the hospitality industry. But we are moving on to in which area you are an expert in. So that expertise will require the soft skills. You get it? Like I'm in food and beverage. Like for instance, I can be able to do culinary arts, that's a soft skill. I can measure in a bakery and pastry. I can measure in barista or coffee making. I can measure in tours. So trying to create a portfolio, a consortium of the skills that you can do. For instance, you are in electrical engineering. That's your main course, is it? So what else can you be able to do as an expert? You can talk of refrigeration, motor riding, wiring, you get it? So trying to create something extra, which you can see is a side hustle. So when the main is not working, then you are in the second plant, which is the soft skill that you have. Okay. Even in business, for instance, you still can measure in business, that's your main course, but what else can you be able to do? You can have a course for instance in hairdressing, is it? Or beauty. That doesn't require much time. It's quite between three to six months and you have the skill. So when you're not in your main, then where else are you hustling in? Okay. So it's creating opportunities. We're talking about TV creating opportunities. You are multi-skilled. You don't have to rely on one source of income. So apart from shipping you up in the job market, it's also preparing you to be your own employer. Exactly. Okay. Tell us about more of these opportunities that TV institutions are creating. And I also read somewhere that, let me get it, students who graduate from Tivet sent to have a high employability rate than degree graduate. I don't know how Tivet is, but we can tell us that's when you tell us about the opportunities that are there. Yes. So Tivet graduates have a higher rate of being employed than the university students. One of the factors I would attribute it to is the mode of delivery. We are not just in the examining part that you have passed. That's not the main name. The main name have you got the skill. So you find that the platform that the students, the Tivet students are being taken by the mode of delivery is handled. So we are resort oriented. It's not just having the paper or city for the exam. It is in the mode. And you find that that student has more skills compared to that university, exactly. Then you find that in another one is that this Tivet student, and like university, we offer a particular course with internet purpose. It is not just the whole thing. We have broken it down to specifics that we can be able to have a student master in. Because you have researched on the market. Exactly. Okay. And you said the course is a job driven, but still in Kenya there's a problem with no rate of employment, especially among the youths. So is it still helping or you might have the skills, but there's still no opportunities because if they're not there, they're not there. Well an employment is one of the main problems we have in Kenya, especially the youths, but not as much with the Tivet students. Why? Because we are not just training for employment. We also have some element of entrepreneurship. So we take you through. You can either be employed or you can employ yourself. What do you need to be employed? What do you need to be? As an employed person. Okay. Tell us a little bit about the entrepreneurship bit, especially today being entrepreneurship Tuesday for someone out there who's been so much focused in looking into employment, job hunting, every other day they've not gotten a job maybe for two years and they're really frustrated. What are some of the things to look out for when getting into entrepreneurship? Let me link it to what we are doing currently in Tivet. One of the main steps that you can be able to do to bridge the gap between being employed and not is that the course that you're choosing, you are doing it because you want to be employed by the XO and so you see employed somewhere else. So it is just taking a course which you know by your hobby is that you can be able to have it translated into a business. You can do it yourself if not employed because you find opportunities come. But with a skill, what are you doing else if you're not employed? So in entrepreneurship then we say our trainings are major, usually major on the focus on the core thing but also we have free courses like for marketing, how do you market for your business, how do you source for your finances, how do you manage the business and