The Nyeri National Polytechnic

The Nyeri National Polytechnic is one of the TVET institutions charged with the mandate of training middle level technical and vocational labor force. In the global arena, Science, Technology and Innovation (ST & I) are the drivers for rapid world’s economic prosperity, social development and provide tools and solutions to address global challenges. For this reason, the government through the Ministry of Education, has strengthened the focus of ST& I and Technical Education (TE) policies as underlying the country’s national development efforts.

The Government National Development agenda is clearly outlined in various key policy documents including the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERSWEC) 2003-2007 and the National Development Plan 2002-2008. The government also recognizes that its development agenda can be accelerated if there is renewed focus on the integration of ST&I in all the social-economic sectors as outlined in the Kenya Vision 2030. The government has therefore embraced ST&I and TE as one of its top priorities.

NTTI was earmarked for the promotion to a National Polytechnic in June 2013 and this has been a dream realized after a lot of preparation, patience and prayer. In June the institute was given the polytechnic order. The Nyeri Polytechnic continues to undertake training programs which provide wholesome technical skills and levels of qualifications needed in various sectors of the economy. The Nyeri Polytechnic will participate in technological innovations, indulge in serous and high quality research and be involved in the protection of the environment and the common heritage of the country.

The Polytechnic will work with the stakeholders to provide facilities for technological, professional and scientific education for the industrial development of the country. The Polytechnic will continue to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) to multiply access and improve training capacity, delivery modes and life-long employability of the graduates.

The polytechnic is keen on introducing higher courses due to its elevation in the areas of ICT, Engineering Business, and Pharmacy among others. In addition to normal training schedule the institute shall offer training on coffee marketing to farmers as a niche area. The Polytechnic has been re-branding, upgrading its infrastructure (water, buildings and electricity) and enhancing ICT in order to cope with the expanded mandate.

Background Information

The Nyeri National Polytechnic was a middle level national Technical Learning Institute established under the Ministry of Science and Technology offering a variety of courses to K.C.S.E graduates at both craft/certificate and diploma levels it started as a National Technical Secondary School in 1977. Its construction was financed by the Kenya government with funding from the World Bank International Development Association (IDA). The first student intake was initially admitted at form three level and started on a technical secondary syllabus. Later on in 1979, form one students -both girls and boys, were recruited as technical secondary students. By 1983, the institution was a fully fledged mixed national technical secondary school. The Education policy provided for a parallel technical secondary education considered to have technical and vocational aptitude. At the end of the secondary technical programme, students were expected to join national polytechnics for specialized training.

In spite of this policy, a good number of technical secondary schools enrolled for advanced level classes (Form v & vi) at academic secondary schools owing to the high premium attached to the university education by that time. By the mid -1980, technical secondary education hardly attracted students. It is for this reason that the 8.4.4 education system was introduced in 1984 that secondary technical education policy and practice was abolished. The institution was changed to become technical training institutes. The core business of the new colleges was to train in technical and vocational skills . They become middle-level development centers. With the change of the policy, Nyeri Technical Secondary school started phasing out technical secondary students and in 1986; the first post secondary students were admitted. By 1987, the secondary school programme was fully phased out. The training programmes introduced in 1986 were:

Other programmes introduced later at craft certificate level were:

  1. Mechanical engineering
  2. Electrical engineering
  3. Welding and fabrication
  4. Clothing technology
  5. Automotive engineering
  6. Carpentry and joinery

Beside the craft level courses, there were artisan-level courses for each of these programmes. The first batch of Diploma students was admitted in 1991 in the following courses:

Co-operative management

  1. Accountancy
  2. Secretarial studies
  3. Business administration

Other courses offered from 1995 to 2007 include:

  1. Diploma in mechanical engineering
  2. Diploma in electronics Engineering
  3. Diploma in electronics
  4. Diploma in marketing

Certificate science laboratory technology

  1. Diploma in electrical engineering
  2. Certificate in computer application
The Nyeri National Polytechnic Administration Block