Acceptability of Vocational training as a social protection mechanism by young mothers in vocational training centers in Alego Usonga Sub County, Kenya

To achieve a flourishing and dynamic economy for our ally nation as well the capable mass of workforce is a must to ensure a healthy competitive development. The need for technical skills forms a critical solution that make the country’s agenda development possible. This study sought to examine the acceptability of Vocational training as a social protection mechanism by young mothers in vocational training centers in Alego Usonga Sub County. The study was guided by the Consumer demand theory. The focal subjects were 248 young females aged between fifteen to twenty years, attending seven vocational training institutions in the Alego Usonga Sub-County. Descriptive survey designs and mixed methods approach were used in this study. A sample size of 112 women respondents were realized using the Yamane Taro formula. To recruit the respondents, this study used a fusion of Snowball sampling and simple random sampling techniques simultaneously. Quantitative data was analyzed using statistical techniques with the help of SPSS V. Qualitative data was thematically analyzed using verbatim. Data was later summarized and triangulated with the quantitative data. From the findings, majority of courses from the seven TVET institutions were undertaken by women aged between 25-25 years. A significant number of women believed that, there is a high demand for technical courses in the job market. On acceptability of TVET programs, community norms impact on the training access by a good number of women. It was concluded that, the level of skills competition in TVET courses is crucial in shaping the demand for these courses. A significant proportion of young mothers attending technical and vocational training colleges in the AlegoUsonga sub-county strongly believe that there is a high demand for technical courses in the job market crucial in enabling their social protection mechanisms. Recommendations on improving acceptability of TVET programs were suggested to the local and National governments. Key terms: Acceptability of TVET, Social protection, women, skills, development