A Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) lecturer has been appointed to the Technical and Vocational Education and Training – Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council (TVET-CDACC).
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu in Gazette Notice No. 6789 said that Dr. Mercy Mwaniki, who is a lecturer in the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Geospatial Information Systems (GEGIS), will represent technical universities in Kenya at the Council for three years.
TVET-CDACC is mandated to undertake the design and development of curricula for the training institutions, examination, assessment and competence certification and advise the government on matters related thereto.
This is in line with Sessional Paper No. 2 of 2015 that embraces the Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) system.
Dr. Mwaniki stated that universities such as JKUAT which offer TVET courses would benefit from the newly appointed council in a variety of ways, including fast tracking of various issues and ensuring that assessments meet the standards and results are provided on time.
“The new Council is keen to ensure the new government fulfills its mandate of imparting skills among the youth as Kenya has a large human capital resource that can be exported to other countries. I also believe my appointment will help JKUAT’s TVET Directorate deliver on its mandate because its courses are Competency-Based and processed by CDACC rather than the university senate,” she said.
During the official inauguration of the CDACC Council officiated by CS Machogu and TVET Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Esther Muoria, it was noted that collaborations with countries such as Canada, Germany, Hungary and Indonesia had already begun.
These collaborations will help to ensure TVET courses, training and certification match and meet international standards thereby assisting in the achievement of this mandate.
Machogu promised to work closely with the new council to ensure it delivers on its mandate in terms of CBET courses because it is in preparation to ensure that the CBC education system matures and transits to the middle level tertiary level.
Dr. Mwaniki, who holds a PhD. degree in Physical Geography from Bamberg University, Germany, is also a JKUAT alumna.
She graduated with a B.Sc. Degree in Geomatics Engineering and M.Sc. Degree in GIS and Remote Sensing in 2008 and 2011 respectively.
The don is also the current Chairperson, GEGIS Department at JKUAT in the College of Engineering and Technology, has over ten years of experience in academia and research. As the departmental head, she serves on the departmental, school and college boards, as well as the university senate.
By Kamau Njoroge
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