Kenya National Qualifications Authority to Head African Drive for Harmonised, Quality-Assured Education Standards
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By Dr. Alice Kande, PhD
The Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) has been appointed to lead the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) Network, marking a significant milestone in the continent’s efforts to advance harmonized and quality-assured education standards. This is a pivotal advancement not just in Kenya’s educational landscape but it does the same for the rest of Africa as well. This appointment has put Kenya at the forefront of Africa’s efforts to blend educational standard qualifications, especially regarding the continent’s diverse educational systems.
Kenya was nominated to spearhead this initiative owing to its notable progress in implementing the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF).
The country’s achievements in building a robust qualifications system have earned it recognition across Africa, setting a model for best education quality assurance and alignment practices. To this effect, KNQA now has a platform to share its best practices while learning from the rest of Africa’s academic and training giants, such as South Africa and Mauritius. Besides its local mandate, KNQA has a chance to shape the Pan-African educational policies and standards and Africa’s potential to attract international partnerships, funding, and technical assistance for Kenya and the rest of Africa
KNQA brings significant experience and expertise on board with its well-established systems. Currently, KNQA prides itself on developing a comprehensive database of credible qualifications that serve as a repository of recognized qualifications across Africa, cataloging educational certificates, diplomas, degrees, and vocational certifications from credible institutions. These systems incorporate verification mechanisms, digital credentialing technologies, and a digitalized mechanism that ensures the authenticity of qualifications and prevents forgery. The database will go a long way in revolutionizing credential verification by employers. Employers will soon be able to gain access to a centralized platform where they can verify qualifications. This system will curb forgery and reduce costs incurred during traditional verification methods.
Creating comprehensive level descriptors and credit systems will enable direct comparison of qualifications across countries. The goal, therefore, will be to establish clear equivalencies between qualifications from different African Countries, an avenue for more transparent recognition while maintaining educational quality standards.
KNQA is now tasked with a demand to enhance qualification portability across Africa and internationally. Through this, unprecedented opportunities for learners and workers to have their credentials recognized throughout the continent. Pursuing opportunities across borders and beyond will be open, increasing labor mobility to address skills gaps in various African economies.
The Authority will also bring on board the establishment of continental quality assurance mechanisms that will maintain educational standards by developing shared principles and guidelines, promoting a culture of continuous improvement, and implementing peer review processes among National Qualification Authorities. As the ACQF leader, KNQA is tasked with guiding the development of harmonized policies that support qualification and recognition while respecting sovereignty. The Authority will also champion the digital transformation of qualification systems across Africa, promoting technologies that enhance transparency, accessibility and efficiency, including digital credential systems, developing mobile applications for qualification verifications and exploring digitalised operations across institutions. KNQA is now in a position to strengthen connections between African qualification systems and their international counterparts. There will be a representation in global forums on qualifications frameworks, and an ability to recognition agreements with regional blocs like the European Union.
In this significant milestone for Kenya’s education and training sector, Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) Director General/CEO, Dr. Alice Kande, will lead the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) Network in advancing harmonised and quality-assured qualifications across the continent. Others elected under the troika leadership are South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) CEO – Ms. Nadia Starr, and Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) Director General – Ms. Mercy Ngoma. Kenya has been nominated due to its advancement in the implementation of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF). The three Agencies – KNQA, SAQA and ZAQA will spearhead the goals of the continental qualifications framework and work collaboratively with all the other African countries to promote recognition of credible qualifications continentally through the support of the European Training Foundation.
Since its independence, the Kenyan government has consistently pursued reforms designed to enhance access, equity, and relevance in the realm of education and training. A pivotal outcome of these reforms was the establishment of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, as mandated by the KNQF Act CAP 214, to establish and implement the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF). Establishing the Kenya National Qualifications Framework represents Kenya’s endeavor and international commitment to develop an accurate, reliable, and robust database of all qualifications awarded. The national qualifications database enables comparability, verification, and information sharing globally. The framework thus ensures harmonization, coherence, quality, and inclusivity in recognition of skills and qualifications, producing the human capital required for economic development.
The framework further provides articulation, classification, registration, quality assurance, and monitoring & evaluation of all national qualifications. It comprises three main sub-frameworks: Academic sub-framework (Basic to University level); TVET sub-framework; and industry and professional Sub-framework, ensuring seamless integration among the sub-frameworks and within the various KNQF levels. The qualifications landscape is rapidly changing with growing diversity among national qualifications systems. Qualifications Frameworks now include formal education and training qualifications and those acquired from formal and informal contexts. KNQA developed a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy, which provides a mechanism to identify, assess, certify and register qualifications acquired from the informal and non-formal contexts. Following the policy’s launch in March 2024, over 10,000 candidates have been assessed and certified through RPL, allowing them to access decent employment. RPL is, therefore, a tool for youth empowerment as embodied by the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda.
The Authority is spearheading numerous other initiatives, such as developing the Credits Accumulation and Transfer System to facilitate seamless mobility between and within educational programs, qualification levels, and Institutions, thus enhancing adaptability, accessibility and inclusivity. Both policies support attaining the aspirations of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Global Agenda 2030 by fostering recognition and mobility in learners, skills, and qualifications. This is crucial for developing an efficient, transparent, and equitable education system that acknowledges prior learning and supports lifelong learning.
A key component of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework is the establishment and implementation of a national database of all credible qualifications, which is aimed at providing centralised access to the qualifications and therefore enabling comparability and information sharing in the education sector nationally, regionally and globally. The National Qualifications Database is a master register of all records of learning achievements. This robust database is crucial in promoting accountability, ensuring the credibility of Qualifications and Qualifications Awarding Institutions, recording learning achievements, facilitating informed decision-making, and supporting the recognition and portability of Kenyan qualifications nationally and internationally. To ensure that all qualifications meet national and international standards, all Qualifications Awarding Institutions must register their qualifications in the National Qualifications Database, following the guidelines of the provided sub-frameworks.
Regional and Global Qualifications Landscape
Globally, National Qualification Frameworks (NQFS) have been used as instruments for facilitating regional cooperation through recognition, comparability, transparency, and mutual trust of qualifications. KNQA is thus spearheading the Government Agenda of its commitment to the African Union by participating in the establishment and implementation of the continental qualifications framework in Africa – The African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) in line with the African Union’s (AU’s) Agenda 2063. Additionally, KNQA is actively involved in developing the IGAD Qualifications Framework, which seeks to facilitate the recognition of qualifications across the IGAD region. KNQA hosted the first learning exchange during the initial design and planning stages of the IGADQF, assisting Member State experts in conceptualizing their own National Qualifications. KNQA enhances the credibility of Kenya’s qualifications, promotes regional integration, and
The Kenya National Qualifications Framework is thus a reform tool for enhancing access, equity, relevance, and quality of education in Kenya and Africa. The leadership role entrusted to KNQA underscores Kenya’s commitment to ensuring that educational standards meet global expectations while remaining responsive to local and continental needs. This is a chance for KNQA not just to prove itself but to leave an indelible mark on the vast arena of African qualifications and standards for this generation and those to come.
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