Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs Dr. Irene Wanjiru Kiarie% Education & Youth development specialist in Kenya Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs Perspective on Kenya’s National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs

Kenya’s Green Skills and Jobs Strategy: The Bigger Question Is Whether Our Education System Is Ready

By Dr. Irene Kiarie | Education & Youth Development Specialist in Kenya

Kenya’s launch of the National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs is more than another addition to the country’s growing collection of policies on youth, skills and employment. It signals something much bigger. The economy (locally & globally) is changing, and the skills required to participate in it are changing with it.

For young Kenyans, this raises a question that goes beyond “What green jobs are available?”

The more important question is: Are we preparing young people for the economy that is emerging, or for the economy that is gradually disappearing? That question places green skills firmly within the conversation about education, career guidance, employability and the future of work.

Green skills are not simply about the environment

When people hear “green skills,” they may immediately think about renewable energy, climate change, recycling or environmental conservation. Those areas matter. But the bigger picture is much broader.

The transition towards a greener economy will influence how we produce food, build houses, generate energy, move people and goods, manufacture products, manage waste and use technology. That means the green transition will not create an entirely separate category of workers called green workers. Instead, it will increasingly change the way existing occupations are performed.

A mechanic may need skills for electric and hybrid vehicles. An engineer may need to understand energy efficiency. An agricultural professional may work increasingly with climate-smart production systems. An ICT graduate may find opportunities in technologies supporting energy, agriculture or environmental monitoring. Even business, finance, communication, law and education will increasingly interact with the green economy.

The important point, therefore, is not simply to identify “green careers.” It is to understand how the transition will changing careers that already exist.

The real issue is the distance between education and the labor market

This is where Kenya’s green skills agenda becomes particularly important. For years, discussions about youth unemployment have often focused on whether young people have enough qualifications. But qualifications alone do not guarantee employability. The more difficult question is whether what young people learn is connected to what the economy needs. A student can successfully complete secondary school, proceed to university or TVET, graduate with a certificate or degree and still find that the labor market has moved in a different direction. This is not necessarily a failure of the young person. It can be a failure of alignment. Education systems, employers, industries, policymakers and training institutions must continuously ask:

What capabilities will Kenya need five, ten or fifteen years from now?

The green transition makes this question impossible to ignore especially with the introduction of the Competency based curriculum (CBC/CBE).

This is where career guidance becomes more important

Kenya is already asking learners to make important decisions about their future earlier in their educational journey. Under the Competency-Based Education framework, career pathways and subject choices are becoming increasingly important.

But career guidance cannot simply mean helping a learner choose between becoming a doctor, lawyer, teacher or engineer. The world of work is becoming more fluid. A more useful approach would help learners understand:

· how industries are changing;

· what skills different sectors will need;

· which occupations are emerging;

· which existing occupations are being transformed;

· what competencies are transferable across careers;

· and where their interests and abilities intersect with future opportunities.

In other words, career guidance must move from career selection to career navigation. A young person should not only ask: “What do I want to become?” They should also learn to ask: “How is this field changing, and what will I need to remain relevant?” That is a much more powerful question in a rapidly changing labor market.

The green transition also changes the meaning of employability

There is another lesson here. The future of work will not be determined by technical qualifications alone. Young people will increasingly need a combination of:

Technical competence + digital capability + adaptability + problem-solving + innovation + entrepreneurial thinking.

This is especially important because the jobs of the future may not always exist in the same form when a learner begins their education. A young person entering university today could graduate into an economy that looks significantly different from the one they entered. This means that education should not only prepare people for a particular job. It should prepare them to continue learning as jobs change. That is perhaps one of the most important implications of the green transition.

TVET has an opportunity to move from the margins to the center

Kenya's green transformation also presents an opportunity to rethink how we perceive technical and vocational education. The green economy will require people who can build, install, repair, operate, maintain, design and adapt new technologies and systems. These are practical capabilities.

And that places TVET institutions in a potentially powerful position. But this opportunity will only be realized if training institutions remain closely connected to industry. A curriculum can be well designed on paper and still produce graduates whose skills do not match workplace realities. The real test should therefore be: Can a graduate use what they have learned to solve a real problem in the economy? That question should be at the heart of skills development.

The opportunity is bigger than employment

Another important dimension is entrepreneurship. A green economy does not only create jobs within established organizations. It can also create space for young people to develop businesses around emerging needs. Think about the possibilities created when new technologies, changing consumer behavior and environmental challenges intersect.

Waste becomes a resource. Energy efficiency becomes a business opportunity. Climate-smart agriculture creates new services and value chains. Clean mobility creates demand for new technical expertise. Digital technologies create new ways of monitoring, managing and financing environmental solutions. The question for young people therefore should not only be: “Who will employ me?” It should increasingly include:

“What problem is emerging, and what can I build around it?”

But policy alone will not create a green workforce

This is perhaps where the greatest caution is needed. A national strategy can provide direction, but implementation determines whether that direction becomes reality. The success of Kenya's green skills agenda will depend on

· What happens inside classrooms, laboratories, workshops, universities, TVET institutions and workplaces

· Whether employers participate meaningfully in training.

· Whether curricula keep pace with technological and economic change.

· Whether young people can access practical experience.

· Whether institutions can identify emerging skills needs quickly enough.

And critically, it will depend on whether opportunities reach young people beyond the most connected urban populations. A green transition that creates opportunities only for those who already have access to quality education, technology, networks and finance would risk reproducing existing inequalities in a new form. The transition must therefore be green, but also inclusive.

What should Kenya be thinking about next?

The strategy gives Kenya an important opportunity to connect conversations that are often treated separately - Education policy, Career guidance, Skills development, TVET, Youth employment, Industry needs, Entrepreneurship, Climate action, Labor mobility. These are not isolated conversations. They are parts of the same system. A young person's journey from school to employment is shaped by all of them.

This is why the green skills agenda should not be left solely to environmental or labor sector conversations. It belongs equally in discussions about what we teach, how we guide learners, how we design pathways, how we connect education with industry and how we prepare young people for an uncertain future.

The bigger question for Kenya

Perhaps the most important lesson from the National Strategy on Green Skills and Jobs is not about which green jobs young people should pursue. It is about whether Kenya can build an education and skills system that anticipates change rather than reacts to it. The green transition is only one example.

Artificial intelligence, automation, digitalization, demographic changes and evolving global labor markets will also reshape the demand for skills. If we respond to every change by creating a new course, a new programme or a new policy after the disruption has already happened; we will always be playing catch-up. The more ambitious goal should be to build a system capable of continuously asking:

What is changing in the economy and globally, and what does that mean for the way we prepare our young people?

That is the bigger conversation Kenya needs. The green economy is not simply asking us to create green jobs. It is challenging us to rethink how we prepare people for work itself. And perhaps that is the most important opportunity hidden within Kenya's green skills agenda.

A final thought

For young people, the message should not be that everyone must suddenly pursue a “green career.” The message is more useful than that:

Whatever career you choose, understand how the world around that career is changing. Build skills that remain valuable. Keep learning. Pay attention to where the economy is going, not only where it has been.

For educators and policymakers, the responsibility is even greater. We must ensure that the choices young people make today do not prepare them only for yesterday's economy.

Kenya's green transition is therefore not just a jobs agenda. It is a test of whether our education and skills systems can keep pace with the future.

About the Author

Dr. Irene Kiarie is an Education and Youth Development Specialist with over 15 years of experience in education and teaching, with interests in career guidance, youth employability, school-to-work transitions, competency-based education, future skills and education systems. Through Youth Insights, she explores how changes in education, skills and labor markets affect Kenyan youth and the institutions that prepare them for the future.