Companies step in to train artisans

Several firms in the construction value chain have taken to training artisans in various disciplines to address the deficiency of skilled workers in the industry.

The trainings are an indictment of the education system since artisans like masons, carpenters and painters were supposed  to be trained by technical training institutions.

The training programmes the companies offer vary, with no standard template on what to be imparted. Some are also specific to the companies’ products.

Savannah Cement, one of the country’s large cement producers, is the latest to announce such a training programme.

The company earlier this week said that it would train more than 10,000 artisans.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

This comes a week after fellow cement producer Bamburi Cement said that it would train 1,600 masons.

Savannah, which is partnering with construction regulator, the National Construction Authority (NCA), said the artisans will be trained in basic concrete mixing and stone-laying techniques, among other skills.

The training will also focus on the handling of different types of cement, like the fast-setting and rapid-hardening varieties.

“We now have rapid strength cements and it’s imperative that industry players begin to make a contribution in skills transfer for the fundis to guarantee quality and cost-effective project delivery,” Mr Ronald Ndegwa, Savannah Cement’s managing director said.

“Through the Savannah Cement partnership with the NCA, we are delivering training modules that cover practical skills touching on concrete proportioning, mixing, and curing, and cement selection,” he added.

Bamburi, on the other hand, is teaching the artisans on-site planning, drawing, setting out and foundations, mix designs, causes of building defects, as well as on-site safety procedures.

“The masons are trained by engineers who have practical experience in construction,” said Irene Onacha, Bamburi Cement’s marketing director.

So far the company has trained more than 500 masons and foremen since the programme started.

The company is also partnering with the NCA.

In 2013, Housing Finance announced  plane to train one million artisans in various courses, but added that it would only be offering them loans to take the courses.

An artisan could, for example, take a three-month course in painting, after which HF would offer a year’s internship programme to the graduate in one  of its developments before placing them with other developers.

IMPRESSIVE GROWTH

A class of 500 artisans graduated from a free skills training programme offered at the Alibhai Shariff Centre in Nairobi earlier this year, in what HF said was the pilot phase.

The artisans were trained in carpentry, metal fabrication, painting and electrical works under a group of local instructors who attended the Global Tool Trainer Certification (GTTC) at the Stanley Black and Decker University in Dubai.

The Kenyan construction sector has recorded impressive growth for more than a decade, during which investment in training construction workers has not kept pace.

Poor workmanship and little knowledge of cement mixing ratios are some of the reasons that have been blamed for a string of building collapses in the country.

Consequently, most of the workers learn on the job, with no formal training to prepare them for the work and other aspects like safety and saving  money.