Kenya is grappling with a severe shortage of qualified plumbers and masons as students avoid technical education in favour of courses leading to perceived glamorous careers.

 That reality has left property developers at the mercy of uncertified artisans, thus compromising standards in the construction sector.

Concerns have been raised that more quantity surveyors, engineers and architects are churned out by universities than artisans from technical vocational education training institutes (TVETs) and polytechnics, causing a labour imbalance.

Stakeholders are worried that Kenya could be sitting on a labour time bomb in the building industry, calling for speedy interventions from both the government and the private sector.

Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS) director John Gitau said certified artisans in Nakuru were now charging about Sh2,500 per day from Sh700-Sh1,000 five years ago. “The market forces are clearly unbalanced, pushing up prices. The perception that technical jobs pay poorly is partly to blame. There is a mismatch between the market needs and training,” Gitau said.

The number of carpenters, welders, electricians and painters has also dipped. In Nakuru, there are at least 500 architects and engineers, against about 200 artisans in masonry, plumbing and painting.

Ordinarily, the reverse should be true, Gitau noted, adding: “Many people are rushing for courses in engineering and architecture. This leaves artisan jobs without manpower, yet these are the jobs that are paying well-currently”.

He said there are about 5,000 engineers and architects countrywide … and less than 2,000 trained plumbers, painters and masons. Making a presentation during an open day for over 1,000 students at Nakuru Railway Grounds, the RVIBS director cited a lack of surveys on the country’s workforce as a likely cause for such skills gaps.

“It may appear absurd that a number of students in polytechnics are being trained on painting. But such skills have to be taught. Currently, there are very few painters who can do a perfect job,” he said.

Death of polytechnics

The concern comes at a time when many tertiary colleges and national polytechnics have been converted to university colleges, where more academic graduates than skilled artisans are trained.

“We have killed polytechnics and other technical schools by converting them to universities. At the same time, we have glorified university education,” he said.

Gitau added that there is a need for the youth to embrace blue-collar jobs, as opposed to white-collar ones, through the training of artisans. “At RVIBS, we are also urging Kenyans to encourage their children to train in these fields. Artisan jobs are not attractive to many because there is a perception that they are for primary and secondary school dropouts”, he noted.

He added that there was a ray of hope after enhanced investments in TVET education by the government, which is also giving incentives to promote artisans. Product innovation is happening at a rapid pace, creating a need for certified workers.

Nakuru County Tourism Association chairman David Mwangi, who was the chief guest at the function, expressed optimism that the situation would change. He pegged this on the government’s initiative to invest in new equipment, modern technologies, infrastructure and qualified staff.

Indeed, student enrolment in TVETs has increased to 249,316 from 55,945 in 2013. “The cost of technical training has been standardised at Sh56,420 per annum, with the government providing capitation grants of Sh30,000 per trainee per annum.

Also, TVET trainees access loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

Meanwhile, the newly-introduced Competence-Based Education aims at delivering industry-responsive skills.