Nandi: 1500 Youths benefit from County government sponsored Digital Training Program.
Over 1,500 youths in Nandi graduated with digital skills to enable them to create and access limited job opportunities in the community.
The school dropouts and adults successfully completed a three month training program sponsored by the County Government of Nandi in partnership with various university institutions.
When gracing the graduation ceremony in Kapsabet in Friday, Governor Stephen Sang said that the initiative is in tandem with the National government digital literacy program that is set to boost Kenya’s economy in various aspects.
Among the program beneficiaries include persons living with disabilities, form four leavers and the members of business community.
“We saw it that it was not enough to have public WiFi alone in the villages and markets centers. The short course is necessary for prudent use of the Internet facilities installed by the national government; the training equip locals with the new techniques to boost the earnings of their economic activities through marketing and production,” he stated.
He noted that enhancing digital literacy among the locals help them to adopt sufficient and effective knowledge in crop and animal production in the community.
The professionals drawn from various tertiary institutions including technical colleges and universities were tasked to take through the trainees on farming, business and social media platforms.
Governor Sang stated that the fast digital development has brought about economic revolution, claiming that it needs skills to exploit digital space to create jobs and generate money from social media channels.
He encouraged the youths to venture in content creation and showcase their talents in the monetized channels to earn a living and share their cultures and eductional information.
“We have seen some of the youths generate comical contents and share in the social media, and they are simply earning their living. The fist patch of trainees are emphasised to create awareness and sensitization of the youths on the economic significance of the YouTube, Facebook among other channels,” he stated.
Gilbert Kimutai, one of the graduates stated that the program has exposed him to opportunities including online jobs which he is ready to venture on after four years at staying at home.
He stated that lack of school fees stood between him and his dreams of becoming a veterinarian after completing secondary school in 2020.
“I have interest in farming and I’m looking forward to develop contents relating to agriculture, this will enable me get some money to pay my school fees and the progress,” he stated.
For Florence Chemutai, she graduated three years ago in hospitality and hotel management but finding a job opportunity has been a challenge to her.
” From the training, I am now toying with an idea of doing online jobs as an alternative source of income. What I need is laptop and a smartphone gadget that will enable utilize Internet and clients to serve,” she stated.
