By Kipkemboi Toroitich
Kenya has appointed two education experts to help in setting up the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) qualifications framework.
The two are Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) Director General Dr Juma Mukhwana and Mr Abdi A. Kea, Principal Education Officer in the Ministry of Education.
They will represent Kenya in the development and rollout of regional IGAD qualifications framework that is now becoming a norm around the globe.
According to Dr Mukhwana, Kenya has set the pace for eight other countries in the region in the development and implementation of national qualifications.
“Kenya is already mentoring Ethiopia and Uganda who are at the tail end of rolling out their national qualification frameworks. Other countries are making steady progress,” said the Director General.
Last month, Kenya hosted a meeting on development of a qualifications framework to boost integration and open up education and job opportunities for students and citizens across the region.
The meeting reviewed the roadmap for the IGAD regional Qualification Framework and exchanged lessons and good practices among member states.
It was agreed that each member state endeavours to develop their own national qualification framework in order to fast-track the development of the IGAD blueprint.
The IGAD Secretariat is now expected to plan for a training of the focal persons between July 4 to July 8, 2022.
Kenya is a member of the IGAD and signatory to the Djibouti Declaration (2017) on the inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers in the national education system as well as other Human rights conventions and protocols aligned to upholding fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The Government of Kenya also recognizes the importance of including refugees and asylum-seekers in the education agenda as critical to the realization of the SDGs, the Kenya Vision 2030 and other national aspirations.
IGAD regional senior programmes coordinator in charge of Education, Science and Technology Dr Kebede Tsegaye said a regional qualification framework will enable people to move freely across the region with their education qualifications.
“Currently, if you have a certificate from one country, you are not easily recognized in the next and this has been a big challenge to our integration and unity,” said Dr Tsegaye at the third conference of the IGAD Qualifications Framework.
