Innovative Financing Models and Sustainability of Public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions in Kenya

Abstract

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has become central to Kenya’s efforts to strengthen employability, industrial productivity, youth empowerment, and sustainable development. Globally, TVET systems are increasingly expected to respond to technological change, labour-market transformation, demographic pressure, climate change, and the demand for more flexible lifelong learning pathways (World Bank, International Labour Organization, & UNESCO, 2023). In Kenya, the TVET Act, 2013 established the legal and institutional basis for regulating TVET, promoting quality and relevance, enhancing access and equity, and creating mechanisms for financing technical and vocational education. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority has also identified sustainable funding and financing as a strategic priority for the period 2023–2027, alongside quality, relevance, access, inclusivity, governance, and technology integration. However, public TVET institutions continue to face sustainability challenges linked to inadequate and delayed public funding, high infrastructure and equipment costs, weak industry co-financing, limited institutional income generation, and equity risks associated with student-centred financing. This desktop research article critically examines innovative financing models that can strengthen the sustainability of public TVET institutions in Kenya. Drawing on legal, policy, academic, and development-agency literature, the paper proposes an Integrated Sustainable TVET Financing Framework for Kenya. The framework combines predictable public financing, need-sensitive student support, industry co-financing, institutional enterprise, performance-based incentives, blended finance, green financing, and strengthened governance. Given its desktop-based design, the article presents the framework as a policy-oriented conceptual model that should be empirically tested through future field studies involving TVET institutions, policymakers, employers, and learners. The paper argues that sustainable TVET financing in Kenya requires not only more resources, but also a diversified, accountable, equity-sensitive, and labour-market-aligned financing ecosystem.