The institutionalization of Article 33 (A) on the freedom of the Press in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 promoted the Kenya media landscape. There are 200 community radios, more than 100 newspaper/magazine publications, 35 television stations, and 35,000 internet bloggers. This development has created the need to train and employ professionals to fill the positions of broadcasters, news collectors, editors, and writers. The Kabete National Polytechnic established a Journalism Department in January 2019 after much research on the market trends and the realization that there was an acute shortage of well-trained journalists in the country.
The enrolment trend has been going upward, and we foresee a department that will grow and become a Media School. We have had the January 2019 (pioneers, as they call themselves) cohort sit for the module 1 and 11 National exams, where our trainees passed with Distinctions and Credits. They are currently out on attachment waiting to sit for their final module 111 exams. The course is becoming very famous since trainees transfer from other departments to the mass media department. The course is 90% hands-on, and we focus on quality training. There is control in the number of intakes for the trainees to have one-on-one interaction with the trainers.
We possess state-of-the-art equipment for practical lessons, including still/video cameras and drones. Students have been creating their documentaries, photo libraries, and broadcasting materials. Our students regularly visit media houses like Standard Group, Royal Media, Nation, and KBC to practice and feel the industry. We get very good reports of our students from the media houses where they get attachments and internships, with some media houses showing a lot of interest in employing them. Eight of them are already working part-time in radio FMs, 12 in mainstream TV stations and print media after having impressed them during attachment.