NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 7 – Basic Arabic, Saudi culture and laws will now be part of a reviewed pre-departure training curriculum for Kenya migrant workers destined for gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia, the State Department of labor and skills development has announced.
PS State Department of labor and skills development Geoffery Kaituko who made the announcement on Tuesday said this is after their Saudi counterparts raised concerns that most Kenyan Migrant workers lack basic knowledge of their employment contract, Saudi culture, laws and Arabic language.
According to the PS, this has presented the migrant workers with a number of challenges of adapting to the world of work.
Speaking during a meeting with Private Employment Agencies and Home care Training Institutions, PS Kaituko said that the enhanced curriculum will help equip migrant workers with knowledge , information, and skills which will enable them to settle down at destination countries and to thrive at their workplaces.
“Following this the Ministry has directed that the pre-departure training curriculum be comprehensively reviewed to include aspects of contract management, knowledge of the culture and laws of the country of destination, social media management and attitudes of customer service. The new curriculum will also include basic Arabic,” PS Kaituko stated.
This will be developed by the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA).
The PS said that the enhanced pre-departure training curriculum will also improve the productivity and well being of Kenyan migrant workers, noting that Saudi is a big market for Kenyan workers.
“If we didn’t go to Saudi at the beginning of this year we were going to lose that market and you know that has been a key market for us,” he said.
He also announced that part of the bilateral agreements with the Saudi government is to also start exporting Kenyan professionals and skilled workers including nurses.
Kenya has been mainly exporting domestic workers to Saudi.
The Ministry of Labor is also keen on undertaking capacity building for the Kenya recruitment agencies, so as to ensure that Kenyan migrant workers are competitive in the international labor market.
As part of measures to streamline the sector, PS Kaituko said he will liaise with the State Department for Citizen Services so as to have a labor desk at the airport which will be tasked with authenticating workers travelling.
This, according to the PS, will tame unscrupulous agents using dubious means to traffic Kenyans to other countries, hence exposing citizens to danger.
The PS further said he will be having monthly meetings with the representatives of recruitment agencies so as to deliberate on matters touching the sector.
