Three eastern African countries have agreed to integrate technical and vocational education and training (TVET) framework.

To attain the goal, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia have validated and adopted the regional policy for TVET integration.

This emerged after a recent workshop held at Mombasa, Kenya and which was organized by Inter University Council of East Africa (IUCEA).

Also validated and adopted a regional framework for occupational competency assessment and certification aimed to improve technical education.

According to IUCEA, an institution of the East African Community (EAC), the two frameworks will help boost the technical training.

“They will help the three countries to establish harmonised and standardized occupational competency assessment and certification systems,” it said in a statement. The workshop was attended by high-level officials representing governments of the three countries, largely TVET experts and representatives of the private sector.

Also present were members of a team from the Kempala-based IUCEA, the regional facilitation unit for the project.

Speaking at the workshop, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education Dr Esther Muoria said: “The development of the two regional frameworks is a significant milestone in our efforts to integrate TVET systems in East Africa,” she said.

She added that the frameworks in question will help the EA states establish a harmonized TVET system in the region.

They will also facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and awards and subsequently free mobility of skilled labour and workforce and contribute to creating a harmonized labour market.

“The frameworks will help us to ensure that our TVET systems are comparable and compatible and that our graduates are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the regional and global labour markets,” Dr Muoria said.

The Regional Project Coordinator of the World Bank-funded East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), Dr Cosam Joseph added: “EASTRIP is playing a vital role in helping the East African region develop its TVET systems and to prepare our youth for the future dynamic world of work”.

The two regional frameworks will help to ensure that skilled workers in East Africa “have the skills and knowledge they need to contribute to the region’s economic development” and can practice in any of the three countries in the region