The Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) has been picked to lead the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) Network.
This marks a significant milestone in the continent’s efforts to advance harmonized and quality-assured education standards.
The Authority’s acting Director General (DG), Dr. Alice Kande, will lead the ACQF network in advancing harmonized and quality-assured qualifications across the continent.
Others elected under the troika leadership are the South African Qualifications Authority and the Zambia Qualifications Authority.
The DG has welcomed the development, saying that this is a pivotal advancement not just in Kenya’s educational landscape but also 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,” added Dr. Kande.
Kenya was nominated to spearhead this initiative owing to its notable progress in implementing the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF).
Dr. Kande noted that 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, she added that 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,” said Dr. Kande.
Currently, KNQA prides itself on developing a comprehensive database of credible qualifications that serves 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 DG said.
The goal, she explained, will be to establish clear equivalencies between qualifications from different African Countries, an avenue for more transparent recognition while maintaining educational quality standards
“The Authority is now tasked with a demand to enhance qualification portability across Africa and internationally. Through this there are 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,” added Dr. Kande.
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.
The Authority is tasked with guiding the development of harmonized policies that support qualification and recognition while respecting sovereignty and 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 digitalized operations across institutions.
Kenya was nominated due to its advancement in the implementation of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF).
The three agencies from Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia 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.
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 recognize agreements with regional blocs like the European Union.
Globally, National Qualification Frameworks (NQFs) have been used as instruments for facilitating regional cooperation through recognition, comparability, transparency, and mutual trust of qualifications, and 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 as well as the development of the IGAD Qualifications Framework, which seeks to facilitate the recognition of qualifications across the IGAD region.
By Wangari Ndirangu
