Officers from Technical and Vocational and Education Training Authority (TVETA) in together with Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) yesterday raided two institutions in the Eastleigh area, Nairobi that has been operating illegally.
During the operation that targeted Atlas College and Alison Community College, more than 50 students, most of them without valid identification documents were arrested.
Atlas College located along 8th street, off 1st avenue in Eastleigh was assessed by TVETA in September 2015 and licensed to offer two courses; Diploma in Business Management and Diploma in Community Development.
However, the college has since opened four more branches within the Eastleigh area and training over 40 courses in ICT, Tailoring, and Dressmaking, and teaching English and Kiswahili, IGSCE, among others, illegally.
During the morning swoop, the TVETA officers and the police found learning was still going on and some of the trainees found in the class were underage while others were foreigners without valid identification documents.
Consequently, a number of trainees were taken for further questioning by ATPU.
Two employees who were arrested said the institution had enrolled 69 trainees at the time of the operation. They are expected to be charged with offering training without registration contrary to section 17(1) of the TVET Act 2013. The offense attracts a penalty of one million or five years in prison or both.
Alison Community College that is located in a building adjacent to Atlas College was closed with immediate effect by TVETA for operating and offering training without registration as required by the TVET Act 2013. The institution had enrolled about 50 trainees. The training was also taking place at the time of the operation in tailoring and ICT.
“We’ve closed the college (Alison) until it is registered by law,” Dr. Langat said.
The trainer in charge, Mr. Ali Yussuf, a staffer, claimed the college was registered but he could not produce any documents to back the claim.
Yussuf and some trainees were arrested by ATPU for further questioning as some of them were underage and foreigners who could not produce valid identification documents.
Speaking during a crackdown on illegal colleges, Kipkirui stated the college was also doing business despite it not being registered by the Authority.
“I want to ask Kenyans whenever you are looking for training first confirm the licensing and programmes offered to ensure the certificates are of quality,” he said.
Kipkirui said a similar crackdown will be carried out across the country, in a bid to weed out institutions operating unlawfully.
