Cabinet approves recognition of prior learning policy

Cabinet approves recognition of prior learning policy

Cabinet approves recognition of prior learning policy

President William Ruto presided over a Cabinet meeting on Monday that approved the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) project, which aims to recognize capabilities from the unorganized sector. This decision lays the foundation for the initiative’s implementation. This decision is in line with the administration’s Bottom Up-Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which places a strong emphasis on inclusive growth and economic recovery.

Cabinet’s decision signifies a significant milestone in a process initiated in 2020. The approved system enables the recognition of knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired through practical work, even in the absence of corresponding academic or institutional qualifications, as outlined in the Cabinet dispatch.

Recognition of Prior Learning, a process to identify, assess, and certify an individual’s knowledge and skills against prescribed standards, irrespective of how or where they were acquired, is pivotal in this development. This approval is also a triumph for numerous learners who had completed assessments and were awaiting graduation.

The Ministry of Education and other stakeholders provided support to the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), which was instrumental in developing the policy. Alice Kande, the acting director general of KNQA, thanked the organization for its approval and mentioned that the policy and guidelines will provide standards for evaluating and certifying experience-based abilities.

Kande emphasized that this policy would allow skilled but uncertified individuals to receive certificates based on their competencies, expanding their opportunities in employment and advanced learning. He praised the technical committee for its unwavering commitment to developing the policy.

Furthermore, Kande highlighted the policy’s potential to coordinate and harmonize the national curriculum development approach. This, he believes, will produce skilled human resources with the right attitude and values needed for emerging industry trends and overall economic growth.

The Credit Accumulation and Transfer Systems (CATS) and the Recognition of Prior Learning policy should be implemented in Kenya, according to the recommendations made by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER). The study also suggested building connections between Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and raising public awareness of these systems.

The Authority is required by KNQF Act Section 8(1)(k) to support lifelong learning and acknowledge skills that are learned through formal, informal, and non-formal means. The governing body recognizes that while talents like those of mechanics, technicians, plumbers, and tailors—which they frequently pick up on the job—contribute greatly to socioeconomic advancement, they are nevertheless largely unrecognized and undervalued.

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