AiRDT believes in transformational development through education and skills development particularly for youth and women. However, evidence shows that yearly school drop-out rates in Sub-Saharan African countries are high than the rest of the world. Among the key factors affecting education and skills development is the high cost of acquiring education against low household incomes. In Kenya, funding for public schools, tertiary institutions and vocational training centres by the National Government is low and the amount of government spending per student remains insignificant.
Despite the Government’s capitation brackets meant to reduce the cost of learning for students, there are other miscellaneous costs to be borne by students and this has hampered the realization of this dream. Other complex and multifaceted challenges facing the educations and skills sector range from long distances between schools/institutions, inadequate infrastructure, overcrowding in classes, inadequate or less equipped tertiary institutions and in some cases, provision of skills that are not relevant to the prevailing market demands. While lack of funding results in poor learning conditions and low quality of education, lack of resources at the household level leads to child labor and high rates of dropout.
AiRDT is committed to be at the center of this transformational change by;
- Providing educational support and bursaries to bright and deserving students in schools and tertiary institutions to pursue their career dreams.
- Skilling and re-skilling of youth and women to enhance their employability
- Supporting infrastructural development to schools and tertiary institutions in order to create more opportunities for learning and skills acquisition.
- Facilitating trainings to youth and women on technical, vocational and entrepreneurship skills while establishing linkages with private sector players for experiential learning through attachments, internship and gainful employment
- Business coaching and mentorship for success to emerging youth and women entrepreneurs – offer access to market information, linkage to BDS, markets and related business support services.
