NYS has service, jobs good side too

When there was a fire tragedy at Gikomba market, the telephone lines at the Ministry of Public Service and Youth Affairs were inundated with early morning calls from all over Kenya.

We received calls from Kenyans even from the diaspora. Callers wished to commend the NYS fire-fighting crew whom they had spotted as first responders on site following the deadly inferno.

NYS emergency response team was present before other response teams, fighting the fire and directing survivors to safety.

Barely two months earlier, following the Solai dam tragedy in Nakuru, the ministry received similar number of calls from all corners of the country.

Kenyans wished to commend the NYS emergency team after witnessing them provide first line of emergency services in the wee hours of that day; and later seeing them assist in recovery efforts, distributing alms and rebuilding schools.

Callers were impressed by the tenacity, discipline and dedicated service that the youthful recruits from National Youth Service exhibited.

NEGATIVE PRESS REPORTS

This was happening despite the negative press reports breaking at the time on the allegations of billion-shilling scam at the institution, the second in as many years.

Understandably, these scams evoke high emotions and negative attitudes towards the institution.

The saving grace is that the government ordered immediate and thorough investigation and suspects have been arraigned in court. We can only hope that the rule of law will take its course and any perpetrators of such acts are brought to book. That said, Kenyans still need to have an objective conversation on NYS and the role it plays in youth empowerment agenda.

Clearly, ordinary Kenyans who have had opportunity to witness NYS youth at work appreciate their disciplined and dedicated performance in serving their communities and country.

Since its strengthening and expansion in 2014, the institution has served as a youth empowerment vehicle by offering vocational and technical training to thousands of recruits in its Naivasha and Gilgil campuses, and in its 17 schools spread across the country. Every year NYS has been graduating about 30,000 youth, up from 4,000 in 2014.

RECEIVE TRAINING

To meet the high demand of youth seeking training opportunities, the institution has partnered with 47 Tertiary training institutes spread across the country to train the large catchment of youth.

Youth receive training in engineering, mechanics, garment design and agriculture production among others. What’s more, since 2014, the service organized youth groups in communities and established 230,000 cohorts who have been serving in all parts of the country, with a daily earning of Sh500.

To appreciate the unique contribution of NYS as a youth empowerment program, it is important to examine the kind of youth it recruits and trains.

A background check on majority of recruits reveals that most come from considerably poor backgrounds and from all corners of this country.

The level of training NYS offers include artisan, certificate and diploma levels. Interestingly, these are the levels of qualifications currently sought after by many employers. They are scarce as most middle level colleges, and tertiary institutions stopped offering these courses long time ago.

POOR BACKGROUNDS

At the NYS training campuses and the tertiary training institutions we have partnered with, you will find sons and daughters from economically poor backgrounds.

They are sons of struggling farmers, hawkers, and cobblers. Many are from single parent households and others are orphans.

To these youth, accessing the courses at the NYS gives them hope in life and a lifeline which they otherwise would never access. The training programs offer opportunities for them to get gainfully engaged in national development duties.

Even as we speak, and the earlier challenges mentioned not-withstanding, the institution is active in our communities assisting the government in the attainment of the Big Four agenda.

The courses offered in the campuses and schools and the practical service projects in the NYS farms and industries all answer to the goals of the government’s Big Four agenda.

The challenge of availing youth with employment and empowerment opportunities is still with us.

Youth population has continued to expand each year and demand for opportunities continues to rise.

We have an obligation to avail these opportunities to the youth in line with Chapter Four Article 55 of the constitution of Kenya 2010.

ACCESS EDUCATION

The constitution compels the state to take action to ensure youth access education, training and employment opportunities.

NYS is one of the outfits designed to help us meet this constitutional obligation. The potential for NYS to upscale to reach more youth is real.

The service remains a viable model that many county governments are in the process of replicating in their counties, with technical guidance and assistance from the national service team.

Despite the challenges and negative perception that the institution has experienced, and our resolve as government to conclusively deal with it, Kenyans must not lose sight of the bigger picture.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

NYS paramount goal of youth empowerment needs to be nurtured through focused reform and strengthening of the institution.

We need to clean and fumigate the institution of unethical practices through structural and administrative transformation.

Reforms already kicked off with the appointment of a new Director General and the posting of new procurement personnel.

More changes in systems and structures are in the pipeline. I appeal to Kenyans to be patient as we embark on the transformative agenda to fundamentally reform the institution for the benefit of our youth.

Prof Kobia is the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs.