 Y254 Imagine Y254 nacahili vidili. Beligia nii kwa narizuwa, bengali hisha hilti hula umii nii kwa na kwa rumili hila k�ivisa hili kwa hongi hiki Umii nii kwa kwa nani kwa wakw위m Musika Na mazi community kwa wakwahi kwa nani kwa huli Niki Gida Kutaku, Patressya Mazi educati kwa nani nekwa kwa hibisa hili hiki umii Some of the policies that are there, one of the things that they look at is making education relevant to the job market because when you look at our system a few years ago, you realize that it has just been about the competition, it has been about the grades. ...but by looking at the new curriculum things are changing and it is about making education relevant to the opportunities that are there in the job market. So it's really making it inclusive and something that would make the learner relevant when they get out of school. Okay. Angela, do you share the same sentiments or do you have different on what it means to transform education? Ya, I share his sentiment because you find that the current education system we have is producing people who are not familiar with what is out there. That is why he's saying that the education we have is irrelevant because it's not preparing the person, the youth to the real world. And people come here, they get out and they're not really well equipped, they don't have the real skill that is supposed to be used out there. Ya, so I think the education system needs to really look at things a bit differently and a bit deeper, looking at what is really the reality out there. Okay, so we have young people going through school that is like 12 years of education and then you come out, you realize most of the times the career that I took, the path that I took, I may not get a job out of it, I have to try other things. So when we talk about transforming, what really should we transform? Because I think not everything that needs to be transformed but probably there's at one or two things that if they are transformed then it's going to make it easier for young people to get jobs. It's going to make easier for young people when they get out to the job market to secure those spaces for themselves. I'm sure here when we talk about preparing the young people for the job and what needs to be transformed, I think the system should be prepared such that it makes the young people flexible. Because if we talk about, for example, when we were young, all of us used to say I want to be a karma pilot, how many pilots do we need in Kenya? How many airplanes do we have? I think the education system should be prepared in such a way that it makes someone flexible enough that should I be put in this place, I'm able to learn. Because the whole essence is learning how to be fit for a particular job. So I should be flexible, the education system should be prepared me as a learner in a way that should I be placed here, I'm able to learn what is expected of that given job and I'm able to perform. Really skill based is something that would make me, I'm not stuck that if I went to school and learn to be an engineer that I can now not work in a different place. So I think it should be in a way that makes the learner ready for the market and flexible enough that they're able to work in any given area without so much struggles. As opposed to you're just like caged in that particular career that you studied for. What do you think are the things that are supposed to be transformed in our education system? I think we need to educate our young people that everybody is a natural resource because we were all created with a gift. And it's not just the teacher's responsibility, it's a responsibility for the society, it's a responsibility for the parents. People need to nurture young people when they are young, children from the young age, first identifying their gifts. Identify what this child is good at and if we nurture that this person is going to come out with that gift. Because you can only do very well in your gift. We have so many doctors who are in real estate. Where are they going to real estate? Because they have discovered that later in life that they have a gift in real estate and not just in their treatment industry. So I believe that if they started earlier now on the real estate they would even do much better. So it's good to we nurture our young people depending on what gift we identify them with when they are very young. So we start by identifying who our young people are, what they are good at, if it is singing, let us nurture that. And I think that the current education system that has come up is going to even do much better than the 844 system that we have. That has produced zombies that we all follow one direction. So based on what the UN seek to achieve during the youth week, we see that the ministry of youth was trying to highlight efforts that have been made by the state and non-state actors and the youth themselves in transforming education to be more accessible, inclusive and relevant. What as a ministry do you think it has done enough? Let us first start there. The ministry is a government. Do you think the government has done enough as far as providing these spaces for the young people? Looking at the current situation, it's a good thing that they are introducing a system that will focus more on the abilities of the child, focus more on the talents, focus more on what I like as a learner. However, what I'm wondering and listening to a few teachers is have they been prepared in advance because someone has been teaching for the last 20 years the old curriculum. They've been teaching the usual way of good grades are what we are looking for. They suddenly have come and told them it is time you now start teaching these kids to focus on their talents, focus on what they love. Like the other day just last week I was in Machakos and I found kids sweeping on the road in a market place. I was wondering, they were wearing some gunias and I was wondering what is really happening and people are around recording videos and all that. Then I asked one of the persons what is happening here, why are kids doing this. One of the persons around who happened to be a teacher told us this is what is expected of us. As much as I'm supposed to be home it's a holiday, this is a project. It is new to everyone but we have to do it. So my response to your question whether the government has done enough is it's a good thing what they've done but I think listening to those people, the stakeholders, especially the teachers, I think they need more training in implementing the new curriculum. So far they are trying. We are not yet there but we are somewhere. Angela we are talking about transforming education, we are talking about having a curriculum that is going to help young people not only be good in books but also push them to pursue their passions. Do we have the right personnel to really mentor these kids or to take these young people through the new curriculum because the other day there was an issue where some schools don't have even the new books that are there for the new curriculum. So are we really ready as a country to make sure that these kids are going through the right system and that we are putting and teaching them the right things that are needed for them in the future. I think the government is trying in providing the right education even for the teachers that are existent. Just as latest yesterday I met a teacher from my son's school and she told me that she is going through a training. They are on holiday but she is going through a training right now so that they can be coaching other teachers. She will be a coach to other teachers. So I think there is that initiative that is going on to train other teachers, the personnel is there. But apart from just the teachers we also need more of this because we also have a product that is already there and it is stuck. What about those children and the youth who have already gone through that old system and they are stuck? We need something to bring them out so who is going to bring these people out? We need systems, we need mentors and motivational speakers and trainers in the schools who will be now training or even in other organizations who will be training these people. We also need these organizations that are already existent. They need to embrace the fact that these people are raw. They need to be trained so that they can also come out well. I believe it should be a CSR responsibility for every organization to give value to the people. It's good that organizations also start embracing this role that we have for the youth because we have so many people who are sleeping because they don't know where to go after their degrees. Angela has talked about training. Organizations need to be patient and train the raw people. But it is a challenge when you go to someone who is making money and bringing money to their business because they have to pay rent, they have to pay the employees and tell them to be patient and train a young person who has been through school. So are we saying that the school, the institutions that we have are not equipping the young people well that they don't need to go through another training by the time they get into a job or by the time they get into the job market. Well, then people we have today, some of us, where we went through I wouldn't say we were really market ready and the fault is not even with our trainers. It is the culture we have had. When you look at the system, it used to be a worldwide nowhere. So even some of us would relax knowing that I have an uncle somewhere who when I am done with school, I will get a job in their company. So I wouldn't say it is the trainers that have a problem. I think probably it is the attitude that has been, it is a culture we have adopted and nowadays when you look at this generation, we are the microwave generation where everything is purple at a click of a button. But when you look at our parents back in the days, they used to work for these positions they used to struggle to get where they are. So I think it is an attitude that we have adopted which has made even when we have a teacher teaching us we are not serious. When you look at the compasses today you find some people even pay others to do, to sit for the exams and these are the same people who expected to come and deliver in the job market. So we are not really serious about our own lives because we are looking at it as it would just happen but that is not the reality of life unfortunately. That's why you see the things that are happening in some places are very tragic. Imagine for example a medical student didn't sit for the exam and I'm here and well I'm going there, the ones who are going to treat me. Probably that day when they missed class it's when they were studying about what needs to be done in a particular situation. So basically it's about, I think even as they are people we need to change our attitude. It is not just about the grades. It is not just about passing and finishing school. The real question is, can you really do it? So we are going to be taking a very short break on why 2-5-4 news but don't go far away, we are going to be right back. Thank you for staying with us on why 2-5-4 news and remember you can talk to us tonight on our social media platforms that is on why 2-5-4 news updates on Twitter and you can also reach me at Patricia Morioki. So far we've talked about what it means to transform education. We've talked about our curriculum. Is it fit, is it a curriculum that really prepares the young people for the job market and before we end this show tonight we seek to understand how can the young people then tap on the opportunities that are there. How do we create jobs as young people because everyone is saying young people don't depend on employment let us all create jobs. We also try to see what really are the funds that have been put up, the ways of fund, the youth fund, what measure, what impact have they created. And to take us back on where we left off I would like us to talk about according to stats we have 5.6 million working age Kenyans who are economically unstable and we have the largest unemployment rate between the age 20 and age 24. So my question is most people are telling the young people create jobs for yourselves, don't wait to be employed. And the same people who are telling the young people this information and the same people who told them go to school because education is a key to success. Education is the only path to give you a good future. So is it that we are pushing young people to go through school, to go through a system that probably we also don't believe in and then when they are out here we are pushing them to exactly go against what it is that we push them to go for the first place. Angela. I believe that apart from education there is so much learning that everybody needs to embrace and we have to be out there to learn. We have to know that there is so much in life than just books, than what our teachers have given us. And even in school we are told that the teacher gives you 25% and the rest is yours. So the same way we have to encourage our youth to go out there and learn new things. There are so many forums that are offered for free but when you even call for these events nobody comes. Why? They are disinterested. They want things to happen very fast. They need to understand that things don't just come by. You have to work for them. By working for them one thing you need to do is just add value to yourself. Keep adding value, keep learning more. There is a lot to learn out there. There are so many new opportunities and first of all ask yourself what is it that you are good at? If you want to really employ yourself what is it that you are good at? How can you turn this that you are good at into money? Because so many people need so many things and we always come up across new innovations and wonder how did you come up with this? So we need to understand that there is so much opportunity and the human mind is so diverse that we can learn new things. There is so much to be learned. The person who invented aeroplanes just had a thought. How can I fly like the birds? We need to embrace our thoughts because whatever you might be thinking and you think that is lame could be your breakthrough. We need to educate our youths and encourage them to understand that they need to diversify their thinking and also diversify their study because what is in the books is not what is going to bring to our food on your table. Last year's theme was creating safe spaces for the young people and this year's theme was transforming education. Would you say that between last year between 2018 and August and this year that we've really created the spaces that we've really done something that has been impactful among the young people instead of having that every year we have a new theme, address a new problem and forget about the problem that was there last year. These themes are good. Like last year all of us were out there hashtag safe spaces for the youth. Yeah, for the youth. But when you look at the reality on the ground when it's that youth week a lot of things happen the whole focus we even have events happening in different places of the country but after that it appears it's like it's just something for the show. When it's done we have those policy documents when we have those meetings at the UN during these meetings they hold us forums but I think we just need to go beyond the show we need to go beyond developing a document and we go to the next level of implementing what we've discussed because many a times when we sit down as young people with our leaders and we say what we think would help us these are the things that will transform, will help the youth become instrumental in bringing transformation in our nation but a month down the line two months later everything is forgotten and you're wondering I remember the places we've gone and even made those declarations and you're even asked to sign but thereafter when we try to follow up when we try to call these people nothing they have nothing to show for it but I must appreciate their people out there who are also doing a good job in the government but very few they have the powers they have the platform to do that they are trying but what percentage it's very small so if everyone who has been mandated with the responsibility of implementing these policies would do their job then I think it would be relevant and very important to have these themes every other year but if you're just spending a lot of money in these conferences spending a lot of money in this seminar all the time and nothing happens it doesn't go beyond a document then we'd rather not have any talking about that is actually they have a new youth policy but now for you Angela how now do the young people take advantage of the opportunities that are there they first have to be on the lookout for what is coming up because there are so many things that are happening and they are not even aware that they are happening very few people will show up for such things so they need to be on the lookout they need to be out there in search for all these things that are happening whatever government is offering when private organizations I personally had an event for a talk with some other speakers and very few people showed up in fact youths I think they were just to count and not even about my private organization we have our churches we call for events and very few people will show up actually the old people will even come to learn to see to try and see if they can fit in or if they can even help the young people because you find that in our homes we have older people who are trying to nurture youth and they are wondering what to do with them so they come to learn for them instead of now the youth themselves having the initiative to get out there you cannot wait for the government you have to do it for yourself so now as you wind up how can the government now support innovations and entrepreneurship first and foremost these opportunities we are told have been set aside for the youth let us see them I don't see the sense in going in a government office and with all due respect to our fathers and mothers and you find a 60-year-old person is on serving you you find at the reception it's an elderly lady it's okay they can do the job but if you keep if you've been doing this for the last 30 years wouldn't you allow that chance for your son and your daughter I think the government also needs to look at when they talk about these opportunities what avenues are there to ensure that these opportunities really benefit the right people because employment when you look at most of the young people they live school hopeless because they know these opportunities are not there they know we've been promised you talked about you mentioned the youth fund this the youth fund this the youth fund but what what procedure is required for one to get and even if I applied would I get it so it's really about the government ensuring that the system is so efficient and that they are able to deliver the promise and even for us the young people I also think we also need to stop being too busy on social media and then that's the other thing that's where we are losing it we have these gadgets they are very good but what are you doing with it if I 90% of the time I have it I'll be on Facebook checking what's up status and all that I think we need to change our culture as well if at all these opportunities we are to get them because an opportunity requires a prepared mind I'll catch you because time is not on our side and just give Angela 30 seconds to just a last comment that should give to young people watching you tonight for them to be better and to face the challenge in a different way let them embrace personal development it is very key because when you develop yourself personal development will help you come out as that person who will stand out not when everyone is standing you're standing with them stand out and when everyone stands out you'll be outstanding so we have to keep developing ourselves I encourage youth they embrace that personal development is a key thing thank you very much for finding the time to come and speak about this tonight I hope that every young person was listening to us as land something I hope that every person was seated in a position to make changes that are going to impact on the young people is also going to create a big change that is all we hand for you tonight on Y25 for news my name is Patricia Murioki do have yourselves a very good night