Nairobi Schools Strengthen Partnerships With Local Industries for Skills Training

In a strategic move to deepen the link between education and employment, the Nairobi County Government announced a collaboration with local industries to embed on-site and work-based training for secondary school learners. The initiative will pair selected schools across Nairobi’s 17 sub-counties with companies in sectors such as manufacturing, renewable energy, ICT and construction. County officials say the goal is to ensure students gain hands-on experience and market-relevant skills as part of their transition from school to work.
The background to the initiative stems from growing concern over a mismatch between school curriculum outcomes and industry needs. According to the County’s vocational-training partners, many youth graduate without technical competence or exposure to real-world work settings. In response, the County convened a stakeholder forum in late 2023 where industry leaders and education officials agreed to develop school-industry platforms to deliver work attachments, guest lectures, mentorship and industry-driven project work. The programme emphasises competency-based learning consistent with the national shift under the Competency‑Based Curriculum (CBC).
Reaction from schools and industry partners has been optimistic. School principals noted that students are now more motivated when they see direct links between their classroom lessons and actual workplace tasks. Meanwhile, companies welcomed the opportunity to engage early with young talent and reduce future recruitment costs. Yet education analysts caution that for the initiative to succeed, necessary infrastructure—such as workshop space, industry-standard equipment and teacher retraining—must accompany the partnerships to avoid widening inequalities between resource-rich and under-resourced schools.
Looking ahead, Nairobi County plans to roll out the model to more schools, targeting those in informal settlements and peri-urban areas first. Additional measures include forming a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess learner placements, skills acquisition and employment outcomes. If sustained and properly managed, this school-industry partnership scheme could become a national blueprint for how Kenyan schools prepare learners not just for further education but for gainful employment.