Influence of Industrial Attachment on the Competence of Instructors and Students in Enabling Creative Innovations for Industrialisation in Kenya
Keywords:
Industrial Attachment, Creative Innovations, Kenya, IndustrialisationAbstract
Industrial Attachment was a key imperative for instructors who train in technical disciplines. Student attachment had been practised for several decades. However, teaching staffs‘ industrial attachment (TSIA) was a novel idea in developing countries. TSIA could improve the learning environment for competence-based training and assessment (CBTA). Akin to in-service training, TSIA would boost the abilities of staffs in determining relevant content materials; provide linkages with industries on-the-job training and use of appropriate pedagogical strategies for graduates‘ competitive-edge in the world of work. Competent human capital development in the current technological trends would encourage creative innovations for rapid industrialization desired in Kenya. Shortage of creative innovations among technical and vocational graduates which was associated with instructional challenges had persisted. However, reviewed literature focused on research and publicaions, instructors‘ in-service training (INSET), further education, social and industrial partners‘ participation in developing curriculum among other strategies for improving students‘ performance in curriculum based examinations. Although TSIA could encourage creative innovation and catalyze rapid industrialization, it had not been fully exploited. Yet, graduates‘ lack of creative innovations had persisted. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of industrial attachment on instructors‘ and students‘ competence in creative innovations for improved industrial output. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of TSIA activities on the quality of students‘ industrial output in Kenya. The study found that TSIA played an important role in establishing a link with socio-industrial partners, relating teaching and learning processes to the latest development opportunities in for the industries, providing working with most current technology, machinery, equipment, tools and systems, contributing to product and industrial processes through creative innovations, involvement of industrial staff in students‘ competence development, reducing cost of recruitment and hence improving industrial savings. The study concluded that if collaborative industrial attachment between instructors and students was practised, the result was improved students‘ competence in creative innovations leading to globally competitive industrial output. The study recommended involvement of industrial and social partners in standardized assessment of collaborative supervised industrial attachment for students and academic staff.