Railway trainees in Kenya learn the nuts and bolts of operations
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The school which houses the training program in Nairobi, Kenya. The program's second phase will last until the end of 2017 and expects to offer 14 courses and train 743 students. |
"In Kenya, everyone knows the Mombasa-Nairobi railway is going to improve our lives. I am really willing to work with it, to get deeply involved this thing that will change our country."
Oscar Wanjala, 30, who resigned from a local private company as a system administrator to attend the training, expects a job with a salary between 100,000 and 150,000 Kenyan shillings per month ($981 to $1,472) in the future.
Principal Secretary for Transport Irungu Nyakera said at the graduation ceremony for the program's first stage: "Although a lack of adequate infrastructure is an impediment to doing business, an equally big bottleneck for efficiency in transport systems is a lack of human capital - people with requisite skills and competencies."
He said the program aims to build local capacity. The new Kenyan professionals will be exposed to aspects of design, construction and management of railways.
A Sino-Kenya Railway Training Center is scheduled to open in 2017, with investment by CRBC. Southwest Jiaotong University will be responsible for training programs at the center for seven years. Another long-term cooperation, initiated by the company, is expected between the university and University of Nairobi for the development of railway engineers and international training of high-level railway professionals in Kenya.
lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn
