Refugees have vast experience and skills in various fields while others have professional qualifications but lack documents to show for it.
This is according to Refugee and Displaced youth inclusion Young Africa Works NGO programs manager Gladys Ominde.
Ominde said some of the refugees had acquired these skills while in Kakuma and Dadab refugee camps.
“RPL will go a long way in proving that the inclusion of refugees and displaced youth in the RPL process will enhance their employability by validating the under-recognized skills and competencies of artisans and provide them with new work opportunities and improved remuneration,” Ominde said.
Ominde spoke when she officiated a Recognition of Prior Learning workshop's closure in Turkana County on Saturday.
She said RPL will be beneficial in facilitating a smooth transition and integration in both the host communities and their countries of origin should they return.
Ominde said the support and intervention target youths between the ages of 18-35 years.
Over 300 refugees from Kakuma in Turkana County underwent the one-week-long sensitization workshop on Recognition of Prior Learning.
The participants were drawn from the Kakuma Kalobeyi refugee camp in Turkana West.
The workshop was conducted by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority in partnership with International Labor Organization, World University Service Canada, CICAN - Colleges and Institute Canada and MasterCard Foundation.
“The workshop witnessed an attendance of 300 refugees who were capacity built in an effort towards addressing and mainstreaming inclusion of refugees and displaced youth,” Ominde said.
ILO National Programme Coordinator Geofrey Ochola said RPL will create a pathway to enhance refugee inclusion in the host country.
“RPL will also ensure that labour markets have the ability of the host country to profile and verify the skills that refugees possess as they flee from their countries of origin. RPL will make it possible to recognize and certify these skills hence improving their prospects of wage and self-employment,” Ochola said.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) players in the country including Qualification Awarding Institutions (QAI’s) like NITA are required to roll out RPL for their sub-sectors guided by Presidential Directive on RPL issued on 1st June 2021 as well as the national policy and the implementation guidelines.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is the process of identifying, assessing and certifying knowledge, skills and attitudes regardless of how, when or where learning occurred.
The Knowledge, skills and attitudes under consideration in RPL are those that are acquired/learnt either non-formally or informally in the formal and informal sectors.
Assessment and certification are done against learning outcomes or prescribed standards (occupational/qualification standards) for part or full qualification.
The RPL process enables persons to acquire formal qualifications that match their knowledge and skills and thereby, contribute to improving their employability, mobility, lifelong learning, social inclusion and self-esteem.
Different countries have different names for RPL including; PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition); RCC (Recognition of Current Competencies); RNFIL (Recognition of non-formal and informal learning); APL (Assessment of Prior Learning); APEL (Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning).
The process has the following distinct features; Identifying non-formal and informal learning; Collection and presentation of evidence of learning; Assessment and validation of evidence and issuing a recognized certification if the claims are valid.
The persons targeted by the RPL process include; a craftsperson such as a mason, plumbers, polishers, carpenters, motor vehicle mechanics, cooks, electricians, and hairdressers among others.
In the formal or informal sector who acquired competencies informally in the first place, or further skills on the job, but do not hold any qualification, or hold one that is not recognized by employers, or holds a formal qualification for a lower skill level than the one attained on the job.