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Survey on skills in jua kali sector to be launched

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Jua kali employs more than 14 million Kenyans. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The government will next week roll out a survey in the informal sector in a bid to guide career development and inform policy formulation.

This is in recognition of the fact that jua kali employs more than 14 million people translating to a 83.4 percent total jobs in the country.

According to assistant director, National Human Resources Development in the Ministry of Labour James Maru, results from the study will help in establishing skills that employers and employees lack for optimal performance of their enterprises.

“The survey will go a long way in guiding institutions on skills required outside to make a designed curriculum. We want learners to come out as ready material in the labour market,” said Mr Maru.

The official, who spoke in Eldoret during a stakeholders' meeting, said the survey, which will be done for three months in all the 47 counties will help improve access to labour market information in both public and private sectors.

“We want to identify the skills and occupations prevalent in the informal sector and establish the extend of ICT usage for the government to plan better and attract more Kenyans to earn a living from there,” said Mr Maru last week.

The project dubbed 'Informal Sector Skills and Occupation Survey (ISSOS) 2018 will be spearheaded by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Department for Public Service and Youth Affairs, the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) and Micro and Small Enterprises Authority in the Ministry of Industrialisation.

Mr Maru said it will entail data gathering from selected business and households.

The government wants to respond to the needs of job creation with initiatives to help launch new business and improve the productivity and job creation among the youth.

The survey will also seek to determine challenges faced by entrepreneurs and workers in the informal sector.

Mr Maru said this will help the youth and other stakeholders know investment opportunities within the informal sector.

“The government will use the information to formulate long-term human resource planning and utilisation policies from the sector,” said Mr Maru. The informal sector created more than 787,000 jobs last year alone making it the most reliable sector according to statistics.

However, it has emerged that a lot of these businesses are not making progress because their informality means they don’t have access to finance.