Assessment of youth polytechnics vocational education and training for youth economic empowerment; a case of Kakamega county

Abstract

There has been a disturbing trend of unemployment among the youth and general repulsion towards enrolment in youth polytechnics. The graduates of this institution have not acquired the economic independence or made meaningful economic self-development strides. The study sought to assess the youth polytechnics in empowering the youth for economic development in Kakamega county. The specific objectives of the study were; To find out how stakeholders attitude about youth polytechnics vocational education training affect economic empowerment of youth in Kakamega County. To determine how the instructional resources for training in youth polytechnics contribute to economic empowerment of youth in Kakamega County. Assess the how vocational education planning and management of youth polytechnics affect youth empowerment in Kakamega County. And lastly determine how youth polytechnic training in technological change influences youth economic empowerment in Kakamega County. The study was anchored on the human capital theory by Adam Smith (1776) as expanded by Becker (1962). The study employed a descriptive research design and was carried out in Kakamega County. Then target population of the study was 2215 individuals from 41 youth polytechnics in Kakamega County. The sample size for the study composed of 272 respondents being 12 managers, 58 instructors, 190 students and 12 key informants. The respondents were selected through simple random and purposive sampling techniques for Key informants. The research instruments used in the study were a standard questionnaire and an interview schedule. On validity of the instruments, the research used content validity where experts were used to ascertain the validity of the data collection instruments. Test retest method was used to ascertain the reliability of data collection instrument. The researcher analysed the study data using both descriptive and inferential statistics (hypothesis testing) with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 and present findings in form of frequency tables, percentages and other measures of dispersion and variability. Study findings established a significant negative relationship between stakeholders’ attitude on vocational education training and economic empowerment of youth in Kakamega County. It was also established based on the study findings that instructional resources for training in youth polytechnics have a significant negative effect on economic empowerment of youth in Kakamega County and that vocational education planning and management significantly negatively influence youth empowerment in Kakamega County. Further still, the study revealed that polytechnic training in technological changes do negatively affect youth economic empowerment in Kakamega county Findings of this study have stretched the frontiers of knowledge to the stakeholders in the tertiary education sector to craft strategies that would enable polytechnics to lend a more relevant contribution towards youth empowerment and economic development in Kenya.