The Kenya ICT Board has partnered with RIPA International and Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) to boost training in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT Enabled Services (ITES).
The Kenya ICT Board Centre of Excellence Project, announced in July, seeks to develop an international standard curriculum that will set the standard for BPO workers in Kenya and bridge the skills gap prevalent in the Kenyan outsourcing industry.
Andrew Lewela, project manager on the BPO/ITes Kenya ICT Board, said: “Research has revealed that there is a mismatch between what is offered at the universities and what the industry requires. The course is supposed to sharpen the skills level of our students to increase their employability.”
The announcement follows a five day training event, organised and facilitated by RIPA International and KeMU, from August 12-16, which was attended by representatives from the Kenya BPO sector.
The training was attended by 17 participants from the industry drawn from Techno Brain BPO, Equity Contact Center, ACWIT, Daproim, Digital Divide Data and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.
The ICT board said the purpose of the training was to build stakeholders’ confidence by demonstrating the training skills to be imparted during the Master Trainer programme, the quality of the training materials developed and to get feedback from the BPO sector on the proposed Center of Excellence (CoE) training programme.
The curriculum already has 20 trainers who have been prepared to teach the courses and 40 students undergoing training on the pilot phase.
The self-sponsored training is expected to be industry driven come the end of the year, with 5,000 students expected to benefit each year and will be offered places at the University of Nairobi.
Students of the three month certificate course are expected to learn essentials skills in critical thinking, communication and technology.
They will also be equipped with personality skills such as customer care, image, adaptability and attitude.
