KNUT SG Collins Oyuu among five appointed to sit in KNQA board

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu at the Kenya School of Government on August 28, 2023.[Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu is among five individuals appointed to sit at the board of the Kenya National Qualification Authority.

​Oyuu will represent the Central Organization of Trade Union of Kenya (Coyu-K). ​

In a gazette notice by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu dated October 17, the board will also consist of Commission for Higher Education in Kenya (CUE) Chief Executive Officer Mike Kuria and the Director General at Technical and Vocational Training Authority Dr. Kipkirui Langat.

Others will include Director of Quality Assurance at the Ministry of Education Everline Owoko and Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) Jacqueline Mugo.

They will serve for a three-year period with effect from October 19. They will be under the leadership of former Baringo Governor Stanley Kiptis.

Kiptis was in June appointed as the chairman of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority for a period of for three years, according to a gazette notice by the Education CS.

KNQA acting director general, Alice Kande on Friday congratulated the five on their appointment.

She says that their appointment comes at a crucial time when the organisation is working around the clock to ensure quality of qualifications from learning institutions.

“This is an opportunity for the Authority and timely as the framework is now in the process of being embraced, their leadership will be vital at a time when we need to do a lot of work in terms of ensuring quality of qualifications,” she said.

She further noted that the team will be the backbone that will drive the government Bottom Up Model in the execution of the authority mandate.

Further, they will be crucial in breathing life to the recognition of prior learning in the qualification body.

Dr. Kande also wished the outgoing team well for their contribution in laying pipe for the institution quest for quality qualifications.

“During their time they steered the institution to a remarkable height,” Kande noted.

The appointment comes at a time the agency has issued guidelines on how skilled workers without a formal education will be certified under a programme dubbed recognition of prior learning.

The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) initiative is offering a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people who have acquired expertise through work experience, volunteering and self-directed learning.

The agency has also onboarded some 26 learning institutions that have been approved to upload records of their former graduates in the qualification agency database in the fight against fake certificates.

According to KNQA, approximately 2,000 programs offered by these 26 institutions have received the green light from the Kenya National Qualification Authority (KNQA).

The 26 include two universities and 24 other mid-level and technical colleges. Polytechnics, in particular, have taken the lead in gaining approval from the qualification agency.