Influence of Public–Private Partnerships on Industrial Skills Development in Engineering Training within Public TVET Institutions in Nairobi County

Dynamic trends in the engineering industry have continued to call for quality training to enhance the industrial skills of engineering graduates to meet the challenges of the 21st century industry. However, a growing skills gap has emerged, driven by the shortage of highly skilled engineers despite their increasing demand. This lauds the essence of public-private partnership in pooling resources, knowledge and experiences to build industrial skills amongst engineering students efficiently. Thus, the study was guided by the following specific objectives: to determine the influence of engineering internship partnerships, infrastructure development, and trainer capacity building on industrial skills development in engineering training within TVET institutions in Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was 334 HoDs, course tutors and electrical engineering trainers. The study used Slovin’s formula to calculate the sample size which is 182. The respondents were selected using a multistage sampling process. Data was collected by use of a questionnaire which was piloted for testing reliability and validity. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 package and presented using tables. From the findings, the coefficient of determination (R square) of 0.318 indicated that the model explained only 31.8% of the variation or change in industrial skills development in engineering training. The study findings indicate that the engineering internship, infrastructure, and capacity building significantly influence industrial skills development in engineering training in TVET institutions in Nairobi County. Therefore, TVET institutions should consider strengthening engineering internship, infrastructure, and capacity building using a policy framework to enhance their potential industrial skills development in engineering training. The findings of the study are of significance to TVET and the stakeholders in improving the industrial skills development for engineering students in TVET through public-private partnerships.