Skilled workers in informal sector to receive certificates
Skilled workers in informal sector to receive certificates
Around 700 Kenyans who have acquired knowledge but have not had a formal education will be awarded certificates on Friday, under the direction of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.The first group of graduates under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy will be these ones.
With this honor, a policy that will enable people without formal schooling to get diplomas based on their cumulative work experience will officially be launched.
A group of candidates known as the Kenya National Qualification Authority (KNQA) will be selected to be the first group of candidates to implement the policy.The award will acknowledge the competencies, knowledge, and skills that have been developed over time through real-world job experience.
KNQA acting director general Alice Kande said implementation of the policy will act as a bridge to facilitate the transition from informality to formality.This means, successful skilled workers will now get certificates, diplomas or even degrees depending on the level of expertise they will portray.
According to Dr. Kande, the strategy will promote economic growth in the nation and is consistent with the Kenya Kwanza Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“For the millions of Hustlers who are the backbone of the Kenyan economy, this seminal opens up a bountiful frontier of new opportunities,” the statement read.
The policy was approved by President William Ruto’s Cabinet in January and will see hundreds of Kenyans awarded certificates based on their practical skills.
Dr Kande said the policy seeks to address a long-standing gap that has seen those working in the informal sector but their contributions haven’t been fully recogniSed within the national framework.
This RPL framework brings together basic education, Technical Vocational Education and Training, university education, industrial training and lifelong learning to enable better coordination and harmonisation of qualifications across the various sectors.