Three regulators to guard quality, accredit practitioners and training centres in RPL process

Three bodies have been tasked with ensuring quality and standards are maintained during the entire process of recognition of prior learning.

The Education Standards Quality Assurance Council (ESQAC), Commission for University Education (CUE) and Technical and Vocational Education Training Authority (TVETA) will specify the quality assurance mechanisms.

External Quality Assurance Agencies will also be used to ensure recognition of prior learning (RPL) meets set standards, without compromising quality.

Part of the regulators’ work will include establishing common standards, ensuring availability of competent RPL practitioners and accrediting training centres.

Developing assessment tools and methodologies, moderating assessments and monitoring and evaluating frameworks will also be done by the regulators.

The regulators will also collaborate with employers’ and workers’ organisations and other relevant stakeholders and also initiate independent auditing of the entire RPL process.

To achieve these, the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy framework requires that each regulator, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, will accredit training providers to participate in RPL, train and build their capacity.

Relevant policies

Policy guidelines also require them to develop standards and guidelines on RPL for training institutions, taking into account the relevant Kenya National Qualification Authority (KNQA) policies.

They will also monitor providers that offer RPL in their sectors, in accordance with criteria established for this purpose and also ensure consistency in the application of RPL policies by providers and delegated bodies in their sectors.

“Regulators will monitor the RPL admission rates of providers and make this information public in an appropriate format, while maintaining the strictest confidentiality with respect to individual candidates and individual institutions,” reads the guidelines.

And for colleges that will offer training, the guidelines require they seek accreditation by the relevant qualification awarding institutions.

Education training institutions and skills development providers that will undertake RPL process will be required to also put systems and procedures in place to incentivise and support registration and continuing professional development of RPL practitioners.

In addition, they will have to prepare and counsel applicants who want to enrol and participate in RPL.

The institutions will also be required to have necessary staff capacity to deliver quality RPL services and programmes.

“They will also be required to ensure an equitable fee structure for all RPL programmes and services, including those programmes and services that involve assessment of experiential learning for credit against existing formal qualifications or part qualifications,” reads the guidelines.

Also, the institutions and organisations will be required to develop an information management system that meets requirements of the relevant quality council, the national learners records data base, and other relevant government information management systems.

Overall, they will be required to progressively develop and enhance the capacity to implement RPL in accordance with this policy and the specific RPL guidelines of the sub-framework(s) within which their qualifications are offered.