Hochschule Koblenz University of Applied Sciences from Germany has announced a partnership with a Kenyan university to train and prepare Kenyan nursing students for job opportunities.
The goal of the project is to prepare 5,000 youths in East Africa for an apprenticeship as a nurse in Germany.
The first batch is students will be trained at Mt Kenya University in partnership with Equip Africa Institute.
Kenyan youths have been invited to apply for the program which includes medical training as well as language proficiency training.
State nursing councils in Germany require foreign-educated nurses to have German language skills/proficiency before registration.
In November the first batch of 52 students enrolled for the German language training at Mt Kenya University.
Upon completion of the program, the graduates will be offered a guaranteed nursing apprenticeship in partner German hospitals.
The program seeks to utilise Kenya’s top talent and fill the labour gap in Germany, which is projected to reach 500,000 by 2030.
“Given a population of 51.4 million and an annual growth of 2.6%, Kenya has a sufficiently large labour pool. Furthermore, by African standards, the Kenyan educational system is well-advanced,” a statement by a German university read.
The university announced that Kenya would serve as a base to expand the program to Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.