By Roy Hezron
Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) has urged Kenyans with skills and competencies acquired through informal learning to seek certification through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme to improve their employability and mobility.
Director General Juma Mukhwana, recently nominated Principal Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry said through the certification, beneficiaries are able to secure jobs within their respective disciplines and at the same time benefit from government tenders.
He said the programme had generated a lot of interest across the country, adding that through partnership with a number of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions, more Kenyans were set to be certified.
“In July we conferred the first recognition of prior learning certificates to 62 graduates training with base titanium in Kwale County. By the end of this year we expect to issue certificates to over 500 Kenyans,” Mukhwana disclosed.
Speaking in Kisumu during a workshop for RPL assessors from Nyanza region, he said through the programme, plumbers, tailors, mechanics and jua kali artisans among others are set to receive internationally recognised certificates to facilitate their mobility and career progression.
This, he added, is a departure from the past where workers in the sector which constitutes 80 per cent of the country’s workforce were looked down upon.
“A mason, for example, would carry a photo album to show potential clients some of the projects he has undertaken. This certification now puts them at par with their counterparts who went through formal training,” said Mukhwana.
He added: “They can even travel outside the country and use the certificates to get decent employment.”
Stanley Maindi, KNQA Director of Technical Services said the agency has partnered with the Kenya National Federation of Jua Kali Associations to ensure that the talent in the sector is tapped and certified.
The assessment, he said, was being done in local languages for those who do not speak English to ensure that as many skilled Kenyans as possible benefit from the programme.
A total of 62 graduates have been conferred with certificates in base titanium on July 7, 2022 in Kwale County by National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) being the first graduates to be awarded under the RPL policy.
