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Ministry of education approves prior learning policy

Skilled immigrants and refugees will be among those set to be presented with an opportunity to practice even before acquiring academic certificates following the recognition of the prior learning policy framework.

This follows the recognition of prior learning policy by the ministry of education which recognizes skilled workers in the informal sector who do not have any academic documents.

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Through the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), the policy will be launched mid-next month and will see skilled workers in the informal sector the biggest beneficiaries following an approval by the Ministry.

Acting Director-General of the authority Dr Alice Kande says that once in place, the policy would recognize the thousands of skilled workers in the informal sector.

Kande said that the Recognition of Prior Learning was part of the government’s bottom-up agenda which sought to empower and encourage millions of hustlers.

Speaking in Naivasha after a validation exercise on the policy, the director-general said this would empower the workers to get government jobs and contracts.

“We have thousands of skilled workers who do not have certified certificates but under the new policy, their skills will be recognized and issued with certificates after a short training,” she said.

She added that the validation of the revised draft policy was part of the government’s commitment to excellence and dedication to the betterment of the society.

“The policy seeks to bring into the national database of qualifications the skills and competencies that have not been formally articulated, assessed and certified,” she said.

On his part, director Technical Services at the authority Stanley Maindi attributed the delay in launching the policy to alignment to the bottoms-up agenda.

KNQA Council Chairperson Stanley Kiptis said that the policy framework would effectively serve the needs of Kenyans mainly those in the informal sector.

According to data from the government, 92 percent of youths in the country have unrecognized competencies acquired through formal and informal means but not certified to practice.

 

Sally Namuye and Silas Mwiti
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