Adapting Apprenticeships Learning for Youth Employability: Evidences from Selected Dual Vocational Training Projects in Kenya

Apprenticeships learning is part of the ongoing educational reforms to combat youth unemployment in Kenya. This paper presents findings of a study that assessed five donor-funded apprenticeships training projects using a descriptive research design. Using a sample of 54 respondents from apprentices, employers, schoo-based and in-company trainers, the study established that apprenticeship training improved the quality of vocational training. Moreover, apprenticeship training equipped trainees with market-ready skills that enabled a school-to work transition for employment, with a higher employer preference of apprenticeships’ graduates compared to the school-based track. Similarly, the collaborative engagement of employers during training gave them a source of low cost labor and high productivity so that they could support trainees and the vocational schools. The study recommended the need to mainstream apprenticeships learning in formal vocational training as a sure way of increasing employment opportunities.