• PS Esther Thaara said those certified under RPL programme will be able to apply for government tenders and jobs.
• Additionally, those certified under RPL programme will also be able to apply for jobs globally.
Image: FILE
State Department for Technical Vocational Education Training Principal Secretary Esther Thaara has said Kenyans will not be required to go back to class to get certification under the Recognition of Prior Learning programme for their skills acquired informally.
Thaara spoke on Monday during the African Continental Qualifications Framework training workshop in Nairobi.
The PS said the ministry has a framework they will use to assess the qualifications a person has as they certify their skills under the Recognition of Prior Learning programme.
"Unless you really wanted to go for any other auditing from what you have been doing in class, then we do not necessarily have to have those who have qualified in Jua Kali going back to class for us to certify them," the PS said.
"What we have put in place is a very good framework for assessing them and ensuring that they deserve that certification and entry into the framework."
She said the ministry is now focusing on skills to ensure they provide what is needed in the labour market
Thaara said the skilled artisan will be assessed based on what they have been doing, then they will be placed in different categories depending on their qualifications.
"The framework is a good thing for TVETs because we want to tell all the Kenyan population that there is hope for them. That everybody who has a skill is peaceable somewhere in the framework and is certified accordingly," she said.
Thaara said those certified under RPL programme will be able to apply for government tenders and jobs.
"Once you are placed by the framework, it means you are well qualified to be able to do anything else those who went through formal education can do," Thaara said.
Additionally, those certified under RPL programme will also be able to apply for jobs globally.
"We are looking at a situation where we are going to skill our youth in occupation standards not only fit for the country, but that which befits standards across Africa and across the world," she said.
"As we train youth on different occupation standards, we would want that occupation standard to be recognisable across the world. And that is why we are here, working on the African Continental Qualifications Framework."
She said certifying Kenyans who have skills previously acquired will be guided by the African Continental Qualifications Framework.
Thaara said this will allow mobility of labor for Kenyans.
Currently, Africa is working to harmonise the qualifications framework.