By Roy Hezron
Holders and manufacturers of fake certificates will soon be clients of the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Prosecutions when plans by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) to install an incorruptible database take effect.
The Kenya National Leaners Record Database (KNLRD) will capture all the information on accredited qualifications and the institutions that award them. The database will also contain a list of graduates who have been awarded qualifications.
In an interview with Education News, Deputy Director Mr Frankline Mukuna said KNQA is only implementing the law.
“The awarding institutions are required by law to submit to the authority a list of graduands who have been awarded various qualifications by the institution both in soft and hard copy. The soft copy will be captured in the database while the hard copy will be filed by the authority,” Mukuna, who is also the head of Registration and Accreditation Department, explained.
Besides the student’s details and courses taken, the database will reflect whether the course and the institution are accredited by the authority.
Mukuna said the qualifications body does not, however, have powers to prosecute holders or creators of fake certificates.
“We only check and validate the qualification, and show you the results,” said Mukuna. “We are mandated by the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act No. 22 of 2014 to register all qualification awarding institutions and the qualifications they award,”.
The authority has recently investigated and accredited various qualification awarding institutions and foreign examination bodies to ensure they comply with the new regulations.
Section 5 of the KNQA Act states that an institution shall not award national qualifications unless such an institution is recognised or accredited in accordance with the Act, and in incase of a university, is accredited in accordance with the Universities Act.
“Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or to both,” the Act says.
Section 30 of the Act had given all examination, assessment and qualification awarding institutions in Kenya a two-year transition window to comply with the law.
The authority’s Director General Dr. Juma Mukhwana had informed all universities, examination bodies and TVETs to ensure they were compliant with the act by the end of March 2019.
The authority works hand in hand with employers and industry to ensure that qualifications awarded meet the national and employer standards and expectations.
In its 2020-2025 Strategic Plan which was launched recently, KNQA is planning to digitise all of its documents and develop and implement the institutions policies, standards, guidelines, and instruments.
