UNESCO's Global Skills Academy, working with Microsoft Elevate, KPMG International and Tablet Academy, has trained more than 200 TVET educators in Kenya through structured AI learning pathways on Microsoft Learn, with over 5,300 beneficiaries recorded by the end of May 2026. The programme, which launched in 2025, aims to train and certify over 500,000 teachers and students across six countries by the end of 2026, positioning Kenya as a potential model for how national TVET systems can integrate AI literacy at scale.
National ownership as the engine for scale
The programme is built to be embedded within government-led education and training systems rather than operating as a standalone initiative. Kenya's Ministry of Education, the TVET Authority (TVETA), the TVET Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council (TVET CDACC), and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy have all played direct roles in broadening institutional access and supporting the integration of AI literacy into policies and curricula.
Machakos University, the Kenya School of TVET (KSTVET), and five UNEVOC Centres are now contributing to a national framework for AI and digital skills integration across the country's TVET system. The programme started with Machakos University and KSTVET before extending to 21 additional TVET institutions. Participation at KSTVET reached 100%, with students making up more than 93% of the 5,300-plus beneficiaries.
From educator readiness to student certification
The initiative is now shifting into its next phase: direct learner engagement through a train-the-trainer model. The 200-plus AI-trained educators across 23 institutions - including UNEVOC centres and National Polytechnics - will guide students through personalized digital skills pathways that lead to Microsoft-issued AI certification. New cohorts of students will enter the programme at the start of each academic term, creating what the designers describe as a sustainable multiplier effect.
The year 2026 is focused on consolidating a broader digital TVET ecosystem in Kenya, tightening institutional coordination, and accelerating the move toward scalable digital learning and certification pathways. The programme's first phase concentrated on educator readiness; the second phase aims to put those trained teachers to work directly with learners.
A blueprint for regional replication
Kenya's implementation framework is being studied as a reference point for neighbouring countries. Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania are entering the programme's first phase, while Ghana, India and Malaysia are also among the six participating countries. The partnerships, strategy and institutional arrangements tested in Kenya will inform how the programme rolls out in these additional markets.
Beyond individual country programmes, the initiative seeks to build regional cooperation frameworks and communities of practice focused on AI and digital transformation within TVET systems. The scale of the ambition - half a million certified teachers and students across six countries - reflects the bet that national ownership combined with private-sector training resources can make AI literacy a standard part of vocational education.
Why this matters for educators
For TVET instructors and administrators, the Kenya rollout offers a concrete template: AI upskilling anchored in national qualification frameworks, supported by government ministries, and directly linked to industry-recognized certification. The train-the-trainer approach means that early-adopter educators become the engine for system-wide adoption rather than waiting for top-down curriculum reforms to trickle through. With AI becoming a baseline workplace competence, the teachers who gain these skills now will shape how quickly their students can compete in a labour market that increasingly demands them.
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