The Mountain Journal
By James Wakahiu
Mount Kenya University (MKU) and Meru University of Science and Technology have become the first private and public universities, respectively, to be accredited by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA).
The KNQA is mandated by the government to coordinate and harmonize education, training, assessment and quality assurance of all qualifications awarded in the country; with the view to improving quality and international comparability.
Speaking during a ceremony to award the certificates at a Nairobi hotel, KNQA chairperson Dr Kilemi Mwiria said the two are also the first to register their national qualifications in the authority’s framework.
Dr Mwiria said the National Industrial Training Authority (Nita) has also been accredited as an institution for enhancing skills by developing curricula and regulating industrial training. “Bandari Maritime Academy has been accredited as a centre of excellence for skills development for the blue economy,” he added.
Out of 728 accreditation certificates issued by KNQA, Nita got 416, MKU 198, while MUST and Bandari Academy received 92 and 22 certificates, respectively.
MKU was inspected by the KNQA in September 2020 with an aim of accrediting MKU as a Qualification Awarding Institution (QAI).
Said Dr Mwiria: “The accreditation will help rid the country of fake certificates. We will also establish the Kenya National Learners Record database and create the Kenya Credit Accumulation and Transfer System.”
The preparations underway by KNQA are in line with its strategic plan of 2020-2025, in the context of Kenya National Development Agenda.
Also to be established is the learning curve of learners and offer verification of their qualifications through the National Qualification Information Management System (NAQIMS), which was rolled out within the year.
The new system has automated the process of accreditation and registration of national qualifications countrywide.
This will go a long way in providing analytics on qualification turnover, student dropout rates, completion rates, preferred qualifications, number of graduates and any other desired descriptive statistics required at any given time.
“Besides working to ensure that all qualifications awarded meet expectations of employers, the authority is working on new policies to support assessment of learners,” Dr Mwiria added.
He regretted that some institutions are yet to register their national qualifications with the authority.
Receiving the award, MKU vice Chancellor Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi said contents of the Kenya National Qualifications Handbook (2018), which is available online, resonate well with MKU’s new status of serving as the United Nations Academic Impact SDG 10 Hub on Reduced Inequalities between June 2021 and May 2024.
“MKU Programmes are already accredited by the Commission for University Education and other respective programme regulating bodies and councils,” he added.
Labour and Social Protection CS Simon Chelugui noted that rapid increase in demand for education and training without corresponding increase in infrastructural and structural skills undermines the quality of graduates supplied to the labour market.
Other factors, explained the CS, are the existence of fake certificates, possession of qualifications that do not match skills and poor documentation of awards.
“Accreditation will solve challenges that have caused confusion in the labour market, especially during hiring and determinations. These include availability of multiple certificates from multiple training institutions,” said Mr Chelugui.
According to Education Chief Administrative Secretary, Hassan Noor Hassan, having a database of national qualifications of learners will go a long way in reducing cases of forged certificates.
“Training providers should never lose sight of the industry needs when designing training programmes. Poor matching between supply and demand of skills will have the youth losing out,” said Mr Hassan.
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