Hope as authority seeks to certify skilled artisans in informal sector
By Reuben.Mwambingu, August 24, 2022The government is in the final phase of rolling out Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), which will see skilled artisans certified based on their level of skills and competency.
Director Technical Services at Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) Stanley Maindi yesterday said, currently the authority is building capacity of critical players, who will actively participate in the implementation of RPL. Maindi said KNQA has organised a series of capacity building workshops countrywide to equip various players, especially principals of National Polytechnics and Technical Training Institutions, on how to institutionalise and roll out recognition of “prior learning”.
“We have over 60 participants composed of principals and RPL coordinators and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions. The purpose is to roll out recognition of prior learning in the TVET sector,” Maindi said.
He added: “This is one of capacity building workshops we have organised to build capacity and at the same time create awareness about RPL, identify beneficiaries, explain the process and state of preparedness to rollout this programme.”
This, he said, will complement the Competency Based Curriculum where individuals are assessed based on their skills and competencies rather than their score in examinations. Under the new concept, he said, institutions will be given opportunities to offer assessment and certification on areas that are “demand driven.”
“There are many people who possess skill sets but have not gone to school. What will happen is that people with certain skills can approach a certified institution where they will face a robust team of experts who will initiate a process of assessing their skills and award them qualifications from certificates to degrees based on their level of skills,” Maindi said.
Kenya Association of Technical Institutions, through Okumu Odhiambo, who is also chair of Inter-polytechnic forums, said TVETs will form the basis of the connection of many people in the informal sector so that they can request for recognition of the skills they have.