The National Youth Service (NYS) is an organisation under the Government of Kenya.
It was established in 1964 to train young people in important national matters.
In 2019, the organization was transformed from a state department to a fully fledged semi-autonomous state corporation after enactment of NYS act, 2018 ] by the Kenyan parliament.

 
The core business of NYS is to train and  mentor Kenya's youth through :
Paramilitary and regimentation .

National building programs.

Technical and vocational training in various skills and trades .

Enrollment to the service is voluntary for Kenyan youth aged between 18 –22  years old .
Upon enlistment, the recruits are subjected to rigorous non-combat paramilitary training for 6 months .

The   recruits are required to offer at least 6 months of national service, which may include;
Construction
Vector control
Slums upgrade program
Traffic Control
Public security
Agriculture
Before the late 1980s, students had to participate in the organisation before admission into universities.
Today, recruitment is done on a volunteer basis.

After successfully completing the compulsory national service, the recruits are send to technical and vocational schools within NYS  to train in various fields such as agriculture, engineering and hospitality.
The training is free of charge to all recruits .

List of NYS TVET colleges:
NYS Institute of Business Studies  -Nairobi
NYS Engineering college
Nairobi Craft school
NYS yatta college
Textile college
Advanced Building school- Gilgil
NYS Technical college Mombasa
Rural craft school Turbo
Nys driving school
Plant  operator school -Kerio Valley
Early childhood college -Naivasha
HISTORY
National Youth Service was established with the assistance of Israeli government, it was inspired by Nahal (fighting poineer youth) and GADNA (Youth battalion) models  which combined military service and the establishment of agricultural settlements.

While in Israel the movement was necessary  to deal with  existential threats from Palestine and Arab world, in Kenya the model was attractive to the government to instill national values to the young people and to rehabilitate the freedom fighters (mau mau).

The Israeli had hoped to use the youth training as their entry point to Africa.
And besides Kenya, they had such programmes in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.

The crafting of the NYS could have started earlier than is publicly acknowledged.

In mid-1959, Mboya had led a delegation to Israel where he – and other African leaders – had been introduced to the Gadna-Nahal movement, during a six-week seminar.

The conference was organised by the CIA-funded International Union of the Socialist Youth (IUSY), which frequently published Mboya’s articles on African socialism.

Gadna was an acronym meaning youth formations, while Nahal meant fighting pioneer youth.
These were youth organisations controlled and financed by the Israeli government to instil a sense of “national purpose”, and to “conduct civic and social duties”.

Upon his return to Nairobi, Mr Mboya told the press: “In Israel I have seen youths trained so that they are a source of pride to the nation, and they are readily available for all sorts of national work programmes.”

As a result of the lessons learnt in Israel, Mboya hoped to transform the youth wing of his People’s Congress Party into a formidable political tool.

It was this Mboya-Kariuki group that would work with the Israelis to set up the National Youth Service all as part of Israel’s efforts to build close ties with the Kenyatta administration.

Kenya had hoped to  adopt Israel’s Nahal experiment in uniting the Kenyan tribes using the youth organisations.
Israel  also impressed upon president Kenyatta to embrace the Kibbutz idea – a collective community farming system manned by trained youth as pioneers.

In February 1966, a Motion was brought to Parliament by Embu’s J.G. Mbogo seeking the disbandment of the Israeli-funded unit arguing that the youth were being trained “for somebody to stand up there and look very big”.
To protect the Israeli project from disbandment, i
The National Youth Service (NYS) is an organisation under the Government of Kenya. It was established in 1964 to train young people in important national matters. In 2019, the organization was transformed from a state department to a fully fledged semi-autonomous state corporation after enactment of NYS act, 2018 ] by the Kenyan parliament.
 
The core business of NYS is to train and  mentor Kenya's youth through :
Paramilitary and regimentation .
National building programs.
Technical and vocational training in various skills and trades .
Enrollment to the service is voluntary for Kenyan youth aged between 18 –22  years old . Upon enlistment, the recruits are subjected to rigorous non-combat paramilitary training for 6 months .
The   recruits are required to offer at least 6 months of national service, which may include;
Construction
Vector control
Slums upgrade program
Traffic Control
Public security
Agriculture
Before the late 1980s, students had to participate in the organisation before admission into universities. Today, recruitment is done on a volunteer basis.
After successfully completing the compulsory national service, the recruits are send to technical and vocational schools within NYS  to train in various fields such as agriculture, engineering and hospitality. The training is free of charge to all recruits .
List of NYS TVET colleges:
NYS Institute of Business Studies  -Nairobi
NYS Engineering college
Nairobi Craft school
NYS yatta college
Textile college
Advanced Building school- Gilgil
NYS Technical college Mombasa
Rural craft school Turbo
Nys driving school
Plant  operator school -Kerio Valley
Early childhood college -Naivasha
HISTORY
National Youth Service was established with the assistance of Israeli government, it was inspired by Nahal (fighting poineer youth) and GADNA (Youth battalion) models  which combined military service and the establishment of agricultural settlements.
While in Israel the movement was necessary  to deal with  existential threats from Palestine and Arab world, in Kenya the model was attractive to the government to instill national values to the young people and to rehabilitate the freedom fighters (mau mau).
The Israeli had hoped to use the youth training as their entry point to Africa. And besides Kenya, they had such programmes in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
The crafting of the NYS could have started earlier than is publicly acknowledged.
In mid-1959, Mboya had led a delegation to Israel where he – and other African leaders – had been introduced to the Gadna-Nahal movement, during a six-week seminar.
The conference was organised by the CIA-funded International Union of the Socialist Youth (IUSY), which frequently published Mboya’s articles on African socialism.
Gadna was an acronym meaning youth formations, while Nahal meant fighting pioneer youth. These were youth organisations controlled and financed by the Israeli government to instil a sense of “national purpose”, and to “conduct civic and social duties”.
Upon his return to Nairobi, Mr Mboya told the press: “In Israel I have seen youths trained so that they are a source of pride to the nation, and they are readily available for all sorts of national work programmes.”
As a result of the lessons learnt in Israel, Mboya hoped to transform the youth wing of his People’s Congress Party into a formidable political tool.
It was this Mboya-Kariuki group that would work with the Israelis to set up the National Youth Service all as part of Israel’s efforts to build close ties with the Kenyatta administration.
Kenya had hoped to  adopt Israel’s Nahal experiment in uniting the Kenyan tribes using the youth organisations. Israel  also impressed upon president Kenyatta to embrace the Kibbutz idea – a collective community farming system manned by trained youth as pioneers.
In February 1966, a Motion was brought to Parliament by Embu’s J.G. Mbogo seeking the disbandment of the Israeli-funded unit arguing that the youth were being trained “for somebody to stand up there and look very big”.To protect the Israeli project from disbandment, i
National Youth Service (Kenya)