Equip Africa Institute, an affiliate of Mount Kenya University, has launched a programme that will train Kenyans as Healthcare Assistants for German Hospitals starting January 2023.

The programme, dubbed Certificate in Healthcare Assistant for German Hospitals, will be offered in Mount Kenya University Main Campus, Thika and Mombasa Campuses.

The Certificate course will take two semesters of 14 weeks each. Upon completion, the graduates will be offered a guaranteed Nursing Apprenticeship in partnership with German hospitals, according to the management.

“Candidates will be selected based on High School Grades, and German Language Skills and will be required to undergo an Aptitude Test,” Mount Kenya University management said.

Those wishing to join the programme will be required to have attained Kenya Certificate of Secondary Educatįon (KCSE) C+ (Plus), German language level B2-proficiency (Zertifikat B2) and pass in Aptitude test administered by the German partner organization.

The university, in partnership with German’s Hochschule Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, enrolled 52 Students for German Language A1 on November 1, 2022.

“We are currently enrolling the student for January 2023 intake,” Mount Kenya University said.

According to Hochschule Koblenz University, the German labor market is increasingly characterised by a widespread scarcity of qualified labor. The nursing profession is one of the sectors most heavily afflicted by labor shortages. Different studies predict a shortfall of up to 500,000 nurses in Germany by the year 2030.

Over a period of six to 20 months, depending on prior German language skills, German as a foreign language will be taught to a level of B2-profiency as well as courses on German culture. In addition, students will receive a course in Basic Nursing Skills. Students will pay tuition fees similar to other certificate courses.

“Upon qualifying for the apprenticeship in Germany, students will enjoy the benefit of getting a student visa, salary and a guarantee of full-time employment after completing their training. For the training in Germany, students are not charged any tuition fee but are entitled to get a working contract for the training with a monthly salary to cater for the basic needs and accommodation.” added the university.