Two tutors win prestigious global education awards

Senior educationists have thrust Kenya on the world map once again after they bagged two global awards.

Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (RVIST) principal Sammy Chemoiwo was awarded a gold medal in Leadership in Inclusivity category while his predecessor Dr Daniel Mutai was feted with a silver medal in the Lifetime Achievement award category, during the sixth edition of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) 2023 TVET excellence for all awards held in Montreal, Canada.

At the same time, RVIST won a gold medal for the Sustainable Development Goals Award, Harare National Polytechnic of Zimbabwe took home the silver, while Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institute got the bronze.

Mutai said the awards were telling the world that Kenyan TVETs have done a good job.

WFCP 2023 Awards of Excellence recognised outstanding contributions from member institutions, individuals and associations’ exceptional initiatives, which are strengthening applied learning and research outcomes.

The congress, touted as the largest professional and technical education event in the world, was attended by more than 700 delegates from 50 countries and six continents.

Both Kenya School of TVET and Nairobi Technical Training Institute clinched bronze medals for the Teacher Professional Development Award and Applied Research and Innovation Award categories respectively.

Earlier, during the fifth edition of WFCP 2022 Congress that was held in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, Mutai, who retired last year won a bronze medal in the Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion Award category, becoming the first-ever Kenyan to win the award. “This is such a momentous and important occasion at the hallmark of my life. It is quite difficult to put feelings into words. I’m indeed truly and deeply honoured to accept the Lifetime Achievement award accorded to me,” he said in his acceptance speech.

The 61-year-old who had been an instructor for 34 years and principal for more than 10 years, also served at Bureti, Shamberere and Eldoret national polytechnics.

He has also supervised and guided the establishment of technical training institutions including Belgut Vocational Training College and Kericho Township Vocational College.

Various experts

He has been working with various experts in actively formulating simple solutions that can be co-opted into and applied by post-secondary institutions to make a difference in communities they serve.

His work has been included in the fourth volume of the World’s Best Practice Guide in Professional Technical Education and Training.

Mutai, who was flanked by his wife Alice Mutai, who is also a tutor at RVIST, said Africa’s leap to new industrialised status was being hampered by overemphasis on university education as opposed to acquisition of technical skills through TVETs.

He said the country was grappling with a shortage of plumbers, masons, painters and electricians, yet at the moment these are the jobs that are well paying.

“TVETs play a very central role in any country’s social-economic well-being. They offer skills that power innovation and industrialisation thereby boosting the economy and creating jobs. Any country that fails to strengthen its TVETs ecosystem starts bringing in expatriate masons, plumbers, electricians and such like technicians” observed Mutai.

On the other hand, Chemoiwo said RVIST trains students in mitigation of climate change, sustainable agriculture, agriculture engineering and renewable energy.

“As an institution, we have been championing mitigation of climate change through various avenues and we include it in the training of our 12,000 students. We inculcate life skills so that all activities that students undertake they will use them to ensure we have a climate-friendly environment,” he said.

He disclosed that the institution had rolled out initiatives such as sustainable agriculture geared towards safeguarding the environment, expanding the earth’s natural resource base and maintaining and improving soil fertility.

“Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global and the United Nation are some of our collaborators where our staff and students have offered themselves to acquire skills that they pass on to their communities in the fight against climate change,” he said.

The institute, he added was training students from marginalized communities to identify seeds and trees they can plant in their regions, here at the institution and then take them home to plant during the rainy season.

He indicated that RVIST was partnering with Geothermal Development Company (GDC) and Triple X among others to leverage on value addition from renewable energy,” added Chemoiwo.