40 Kenyans to study railway technology in Beijing

Kenyan authorities said 40 students from the country had been offered scholarship China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) for degree course in Railway Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University.

James Macharia, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Transport, in company with Liu Xianfa, Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, and senior executives from the CRBC, stated this on Friday at the send-off ceremony for the students in Nairobi.

Macharia said that training of Kenyan youths on advanced railway technology at a prestigious university in China would help the country bridge skills gap in a rapidly evolving mode of transport.

“The need to train our own in specific rail courses emerged from the realisation that Kenya lacked professional and skilled manpower in railway sector for the development, operation and maintenance of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project,’’ said Macharia.

The CRBC has since 2016 provided 100 Kenyan youths with scholarships to pursue bachelor degrees in railway-related technologies at Beijing Jiaotong University.

The first batch of 25 students and the second batch of 35 students departed for China in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while the final batch of 40 students would commence their studies later in April.

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Macharia hailed the CRBC for sponsoring the youths for the programme, adding that Kenya would enhance partnership with China to build a critical mass of trained personnel to operate the SGR expected to hasten the country’s industrial growth.

On his part, Liu urged beneficiaries of the scholarships to pursue their vocation with passion and contribute to Kenya’s development in different spheres.

“It is my hope that after completing studies in China you would return to Kenya and make use of acquired knowledge and skills to contribute to the development of Kenya, devoting yourselves to China-Kenya cooperation and friendship.’’

He revealed that China would step up skills and technology transfer to hasten modernisation of Kenya’s railway sector through the establishment of a training college in the country.

General Manager of the CRBC, Li Qiang, said his firm had prioritised development of technical skills among Kenyan youth to enhance their capacity to participate in the modernisation of the country’s railway transport.