Entrepreneurial Education in Middle-Level Tertiary Colleges in the Rift Valley of Kenya

Abstract

This study adds to the knowledge base of Entrepreneurial Education (EE) in selected technical training institutes in Kenya. Using qualitative research inquiry, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a question guidebook and follow-up questioning. Data were collected from students, instructors, and administrators selected through purposive sampling. Open and axial coding was used to categorize the transcribed interview responses. Peer review was used to ensure credibility and confirmability. The results reveals that the learning institutions prepared students as entrepreneurs through coursework, mandatory field internships, internal projects, participation in agricultural and business fairs, and providing startup capital for cooperative shops. EE delivery faces numerous constraints including inadequate start-up capital, inadequate access to land, and output and input market resulting from poor infrastructure, competition, lack of marketing skills, and exam-oriented curricula. Dairy, horticulture, poultry, and apiculture enterprises were identified as the most promising and viable enterprises for graduates of middlelevel tertiary institutions. In conclusion, EE was being offered in these institutions as certificate courses or integrated as a topic in their existing curricula. In order to improve upon the delivery of the programs, the institutions needed to upgrade learning facilities, incorporating ICT in the curricula, enhance practical learning, conduct rigorous follow-up evaluations of graduates, and establish business incubators for providing start-up capital to graduates.