TVET tutors call off strike after ministry agrees to address grievances

By  Lynet Igadwah

Senior Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Kenya Union of Technical and Vocational Education Trainers had threatened to withdraw its 10,000 members from work.
• The union said it supports curriculum reforms aimed at improving the quality and relevance of technical education.

Tutors in technical and vocational colleges have called off a planned nationwide strike after the Ministry of Education agreed to address their grievances, averting a disruption of learning in the institutions.

The Kenya Union of Technical and Vocational Education Trainers (KUTVET) had threatened to withdraw its 10,000 members from work over concerns ranging from the security of examinations to poor working conditions and the rushed implementation of competency-based training programmes.

The union's secretary-general, Kepher Oguwi, said the decision followed a meeting with Ministry of Education officials and the Competency-Based Education and Training Assessment and Certification Council (CDACC), convened by labour conciliator Charles Muniko.

“We have resolved to call off the scheduled strike after officials from the Ministry of Education and CDACC agreed to address our concerns,” Mr Oguwi said after the closed-door meeting.

The ministry had requested 15 days to file its memorandum with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection through the conciliator, a request the union agreed to accommodate.

The parties are expected to continue engagements to resolve the outstanding issues, in order to streamline operations within the sector amid rising student drop-out rates due to funding concerns.

Data tabled in Parliament shows the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) had targeted 440,826 trainees for scholarships in the financial year ending June 2026 but managed to fund only 89,054, which is barely one in five of those targeted.

The irony in this state of affairs is that the Government has been persuading more young people to enrol in TVET maintaining the courses they pursue are a key cog in the country’s economic growth.

TVET has been repeatedly identified as a critical pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), with the Government seeking to produce a skilled workforce capable of driving manufacturing, construction, agriculture, digital services and other sectors of the economy.

The promotion has been bearing fruits and this year alone, nearly 9,000 of students that qualified for university admission  in the 2025 Kenya Certificatre of Secondary Education (KCSE) opted for courses in TVETs. 

Security of examinations

A major concern raised by KUTVET is the administration and security of examinations conducted by CDACC, the TVET sector's assessment and certification body.

Mr Oguwi accused the council of transmitting examination papers to institutions by email instead of printing and delivering them as required, arguing that the practice exposes assessments to security risks and has resulted in delays in some colleges.

The union wants the examination administration process reviewed to safeguard the integrity of assessments and ensure institutions receive examination materials on time.

Beyond examination security, KUTVET has raised concerns over poor terms and conditions of service, the implementation of competency-based education and training (CBET) programmes, failure to deduct and remit union dues, unfair labour practices and what it describes as arbitrary transfers.

The union said it supports curriculum reforms aimed at improving the quality and relevance of technical education but maintains that the modularisation of CBET programmes has been rolled out hurriedly, without adequate consultation with trainers and other stakeholders.

In its memorandum to the conciliator, the union said trainers were insufficiently involved in designing and implementing the reforms, while some institutions lacked the resources needed to implement them effectively.

It also cited confusion in programme delivery and assessment, as well as unresolved concerns over workload allocation, teaching schedules and instructional resources.

Mr Oguwi said the meeting also addressed the review of curricula and examinations, with the parties acknowledging that gaps remained to be addressed.

“They asked us to identify specific areas where we had found gaps in the examinations and highlight the shortcomings in the way they were being administered,” he said.

The union also said it had agreed with the ministry on the immediate processing of Form S, used in matters relating to union membership.
KUTVET issued a 21-day strike notice after attempts to resolve the grievances through consultations, correspondence and memoranda failed to produce satisfactory results.

The union had maintained that the strike was a last resort after prolonged engagement with the ministry and other relevant agencies over issues affecting trainers' welfare and the quality of technical education.

ligadwah@ke.nationmedia.com

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