Align job descriptions to accommodate prior learners – Gachagua

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked employers to align job description requirements to accommodate graduates of the Recognition of Prior Learning Programme.

The DP spoke on Friday when he presided over the launch of the Recognition of Prior Learning Policy and the graduation of the first cohort of 900 graduands of the programme at KICC.

“As we make and mark this great leap, I would like to ask employers to also align job description requirements to accommodate the experts. Today, we acknowledge that they are qualified as confirmed by the relevant authorities,” Gachagua said.

The recognition was done by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA).

The DP said the recognition of the skills and expertise of artisans demonstrates that expertise is not gained only from formal learning institutions. 

“It complements our Competency-Based System, the CBC,” he said, while noting that the gap that existed in facilitating transition skilled artisans from the Jua Kali to the formal sector had now been sealed.

Gachagua said artisans account for about 16 million of Kenya’s 19.1 million workforce making them the bedrock of Kenya’s economy.

He said they had been discriminated against for lack of papers to prove qualification.

He said despite their skills, they could not secure formal jobs and those who did have limited latitude to negotiate for higher pay equivalent to their skills.

“With the launch of the Recognition of Prior Learning, we have removed the barriers and opened the gate for consideration of knowledge, skills and expertise in employment. Henceforth, our skilled artisans will no longer use folders with pictures of their handiwork to prove knowledge and skills,” Gachagua said.

“We have elevated their profession and dignified them for what they do best, not the paper they lacked,” he added.

Gachagua said with the certificates, the graduates are now empowered and have access to unlimited opportunities in the formal sector, both locally and internationally.

“For instance, Linet Imbosa, who has worked as a car mechanic in Nairobi for over five years, can apply for employment in an automotive assembly,” he said.

He said the first cohort of graduates will in particular be a key cog in implementing government programmes that are currently being rolled out across the country.

“For example, job opportunities for skilled artisans are plenty in the Affordable Housing Programme, new markets, stadia construction, shipping and maritime, among other areas of transformation. This is in addition to the Diaspora jobs, which our President is negotiating with other countries,” he said.

The launch of the Recognition of Prior Learning Policy is an outcome of the radical reforms in the Education sector spearheaded by the Presidential Working Party on Educational Reforms.

The policy now elevates Kenya to one of the few African countries which have acknowledged and embraced Recognition of Prior Learning as a qualification for joining the formal and informal workforce. 

Gachagua said ministries have been directed to implement a continuous system for information sharing with the State Department for TVET, which is responsible for Recognition of Prior Learning for quick turnaround from accreditation to employment.

“Our decision is informed by the fact that these skilled people acquired competencies through informal and non-formal means, but they have been discriminated against for lack of a paper to prove qualification.

“The Ruto Administration has done so because, under the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda (BETA), we have given priority to job creation for the millions of unemployed Kenyans working in the Jua Kali Sector,” the DP added.