Philosophical Foundations of TVET and Reforms in Kenya: A Critical Analysis Across Colonial and Post-Colonial Periods

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has consistently failed to produce competent graduates with the skills necessary for self-reliance, despite significant reforms spanning both the colonial and post-colonial periods. This paper critically examines the philosophical foundations that have informed TVET reforms across these periods, with the aim of enriching future reform efforts based on 21st-century progressive education theory. The study was guided by two objectives: To examine the concept of TVET reforms in Kenya, and to identify gaps in the philosophical foundations underpinning those reforms. The findings revealed that colonial-era reforms dismantled the sound philosophical foundations of traditional vocational education to serve colonial, political, social, and economic interests primarily to subdue Africans, extract cheap labour, promote missionary interests, and encourage self-sustainability. Following independence, post-colonial reforms prioritised literary education over vocational training in order to appease Africans and enable them to assume white-collar roles vacated by departing colonialists, thereby undermining gains made during the colonial period. Efforts in the 1980s to promote self-reliance through vocationalization were short-lived by the close of the 1990s. From the mid-2000s onward, renewed efforts to strengthen TVET have sought to align it with lifelong learning and self-reliance, as inspired by Vision 2030. While the introduction of a Competency-Based Curriculum provided a more progressive foundation and emphasised equipping learners with workplace and entrepreneurial skills, implementation challenges persisted, including inconsistent content and weak alignment with infrastructure and teacher training.