Skip to main content

THE AJIRA ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM


By Arnold Makumba
The Ministry of ICT with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation partnered to address the growing tide of unemployment amongst the youth in Kenya through the provision of online work training. Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) was selected as the implementing partner who engaged the African Center for Women and ICT (ACWICT) as the lead trainers for the one-month long program.
The program targets to train at least 10, 000 youth in the country by equipping them with skills to pursue online work.  

 To achieve this number the Ministry opted to have the training run 
simultaneously in five centers in the country.  The centers selected are Nairobi- Kenyatta University main campus, Mombasa- Kenyatta University, Mombasa Campus, Meru – The Cooperative University of Kenya, Nakuru—Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (RVIST) Main Campus and Kisumu-Tom Mboya Labor College. This is a one-week residential training that runs for the whole month of June 2017. 

The program is now in its fourth week and it's greatly successful despite the fact that many youths couldn't all be enrolled due to a large number of applicants for limited slots. The trainees are hosted in the respective centers where they are provided with food and accommodation. Each day classes commence at 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and may extend depending on the module being covered on a particular day.

The trainers from ACWICT are very knowledgeable and have an excellent mode of delivery that is both practical and realistic taking cognizance of the trainee's needs. Modules being covered include an introduction to online work, skills, and attributes for online workers, platforms for online work, signing up and bidding for work, entrepreneurship, financial management, and digital marketing skills. On completion of the one-week training, the trainees are offered a one-month mentorship program aimed at supporting the trainee now a newbie, to successfully transition onto the online work platform thus gaining income and improving on the acquired skills.

As it enters its homestretch it's my expectation that the designers of the program will provide adequate support to the trainees to the point that they are able to ride solo on the various platforms. The negativity that had been raised concerning this venture will only be put to rest through this mentorship once it succeeds in establishing the trainees in their various choice of job categories.

Nevertheless, this is an excellent idea if well executed it will address the dire unemployment issue in the country.  Many thanks and appreciation to the Rockefeller Foundation, the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance for such an excellent partnership that has brought this venture thus far. We look forward to many more opportunities that will empower the youth and set them on the path of success.
Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A NEWBIE’S LIFE

Hey there, you just completed your one-week training from Ajira and you are practically psyched up. Some of you may already have gotten a job or two since you signed up on various online platforms.   Welcome to the life of a newbie.  Maybe prior to Ajira you had an idea about online work or you didn’t, that doesn’t really matter, for now, what's important is that fact that you are a newbie- new on the platforms that you just signed up on. Read my first article on this link:  https://arnomak.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-ajira-online-training-program.html At Ajira the focus was mainly on Upwork, Guru, and Fiverr. Some of us had issues during the sign-up, some profiles were outrightly rejected, some Fiverr accounts were deleted on grounds of violation platform rights when all you did was to sign up and oops you are out even before you start. A story for another day. Here is my two weeks experience. On 16 th June 2017 at 5:00 PM, I walked out of Kenyatta Unive...
6 comments
Read more

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WOMAN ENJOY BEING A WIFE

Are you a married man, or with a woman with whom you want to enjoy companionship? If yes, the read on…..I will show you how to make her enjoy being your woman. "Appreciate her effort" She sacrifices a lot to make sure you have a great home. It’s prudent that you notice her efforts and thank her. Compliment her on her diligence. "Help her out" Simple yet profound, step into the kitchen, make the bed, clean after yourself or even offer to help her with any chore once in a while. Your help will be reciprocated as she will do much more for the family.  "Marry her" With the current lifestyle, many men are so comfortable with the come we stay unions. Brother, go the whole nine yards and make her your woman legitimately. Women enjoy more when they know where they stand in your life and this gives them security. "Find time for her" I know you’re a busy man bringing in the bacon, but brother, look here; she didn’t come just for the fine things, she ...
4 comments
Read more

Fatherhood 101

As a father it is your solemn duty and responsibility to Love, serve and protect your wife and children, and teach them the statutes of God as the spiritual leaders of your home, be faithful to your wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down your life for her as Christ did it for you. Teach your children to Love God with all their hearts, all their minds and all their strength, honour. Train them to honour authority, and live responsibly. You are to confront evil, pursue jus tice and love mercy. Treat others with kindness, respect and compassion, work diligently to provide for the needs of your family, forgive those who have wronged you, and reconcile with those you have wronged. Walk in integrity as a man answerable to God, seek to honour God, obey His will and do His will. Make a vow that you and your house will serve the Lord. I am praying for those of us who wish to make this resolution and commitment that God through Christ may give you the grace to live and ho...
3 comments
Read more