Susan Chebet is a third year student at a local university pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering. She wants to complete her five-year course as the best in her field.

But before she can get that feat, she must attend a compulsory three-month industrial attachment at an institution of her choice. And like many other institutions, Chebet’s institution will only issue a letter of request to the prospective employers “to offer assistance to enable the above student complete her degree course in Computer Science.”

The student must find the attachment on their own. But because most students lack the connection and exposure needed to secure these attachments, many students  miss out this crucial training. And this, HR practitioners say, has impacted negatively on performance at the work place.

But this might soon be a thing of the past after the Ministry of Labour and the National Industrial Training Authority came up with a website that helps student get industrial attachment.

The system — www.nita.go.ke — allows students, colleges, universities and employers to access information with regards to industrial attachment.

Building capacity

“The Vision 2030 calls for building of capacity to competently take up various jobs in the society. We cant build strong human resource if the training process is not complete. Moreover, lack of information and linkages has seen many students miss out on the attachment programs,” Ministry of Labour Permanent Secretary, Beatrice Kituyi, said.

“The system will ensure students can secure attachment with different companies,” she added.

A student can log into the information website, key in his or her name, gender, college, phone number, course, and period needed for the attachment.

The Employers, on the other hand, are able to access such details and get back to the student whenever a chance arises.

Attachment criteria

The site also allows the college or university to post the courses they offer and their attachment criteria.

Speaking during the launch of the system, the National Industrial Training Institute Authority Chairman, Prof Thomas Akunja, urged students, institutions of higher learning, and employers to use the site to enrich their programs.

“Lack of co-ordination and valuable systems to reveal opportunities has partly undermined training process. So let us converge at the website to share information that are important to training task.”

He called on the Government to empower students, and Colleges with IT infrastructure to enable them access the new system with ease.

By FREDRICK OBURA, The Standard