The government of Kenya is in the process of harmonizing skills through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and micro-credentials with the Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) curriculum.

RPL is the process used to identify, assess, and certify an individual’s knowledge, skills, and competencies against prescribed standards or learning outcomes regardless of when, where and how they were acquired.

Through RPL, the Ruto administration will have thousands of Kenyans with the requisite credentials to facilitate their employment on state projects, like the Affordable Housing Programme with the potential to create jobs and offer the youth a platform to showcase their skills, some acquired informally.

Why Recognition of Prior Learning Policy (RPL)?

According to a 2019 survey by the International Labour Organisation, over 83% of the workforce driving Kenya’s economy, which is predominantly informal, have skills but do not have qualifications.

An estimated 92% of Kenyan youths have unrecognised competencies acquired through informal and non-informal means and are disadvantaged from competing favourably in the labour market due to lack of corresponding qualifications for the acquired competencies.

Recognition of Prior learning plays a critical role in recognising the massive knowledge, skills, and competencies that exist at the bottom of the Kenyan economy.

The RPL Policy Framework for the first time will offer a key pillar underpinning the process of making invisible skills and competencies of a person visible, assessed, and certificated for improved employability, alternative access and admission, societal recognition, mobility, and self-esteem.

This has aligned with President William Ruto’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which emphasizes inclusive growth and the importance of every individual’s contribution to the economy.