Examining the Role of Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA)Development of National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) has become a world-wide phenomenon and continues to draw international interest not least in Sub-Saharan Africa, where Kenya has become a trail blazer in the effort to enhance quality and relevance of its education and training sector. The reasons for adoption and implementation of NQFs are many and varied. Most of the countries that have adopted a NQF are concerned with the poor articulation between qualifications and actual skills needs in the workplace; need to rectify the poor credibility and quality of existing qualifications and training programmes and lack of coherence and the rather fragmented nature of the qualifications system. The need for provision for recognition of non-formally acquired skills and facilitating integration of such skills into the formal system - where a large part of the population is evidently excluded from the formal education system or where there is a high number of school dropouts also creates an impetus for adoption of National Qualification Framework. The Frameworks, thus provide a basis for improving the quality, accessibility, linkages and labour market recognition of qualifications within a country and internationally.Quality Education and Training is as vital as the dissemination of the supposed education itself at all levels. A country whose education and training standards are below par, results to poor values in its work force and lack of the required expertise. Every Educational and Training system or institution for that matter, requires an efficient and proper outline of quality assurance systems that guard the productivity, relevance and clarity in formulating and actualizing the stipulated missions, visions, goals and objectives. This should be in line with the country’s goals as well as the global goals of education and training. When Quality Assurance organs function well, the training bodies…

The Editor had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Benta Opande, Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Women Teachers Association - KEWOTA. A warm and amiable person, her story is one of passion, bravery and resilience. “I think realizing that you’re not alone, that you are standing with millions of your sisters around the world is vital.” – Malala Yuafzai. So this quote by Yuafzai is befitting and resonates very well with her journey from the classroom to CEO, of the largest Women Association in Kenya.Ms Benta Opande is a teacher by profession, trained at Kenya Science Teachers Training College, KSTC. A career that started 35 years ago, she remembers fondly her first posting in 1989 to Parklands Boys Secondary School, where she began by teaching Chemistry, Biology and Sports. But it is in teaching sports where her passion for inspiring people to excel and push the limits was born, and was solidified when she became the first female coach of the school hockey team. She recalls that when she started coaching the boys, the team was performing poorly but soon after, the performance began to improve, and by the time she left, the team had gained recognition and was winning accolades in the National sports arena. It had become the team to beat. This impressive performance enabled her to get her next posting to Buru Buru Girls High School, where in addition to Hockey, she introduced Basketball. However, sports remained pretty much extracurricular activity, with her main responsibility being teaching biology and chemistry. This went on for some time until her excellence in managing the Buru Buru girls’ sports department was recognized when her fellow teachers in Nairobi elected her as an executive committee member of the Nairobi Secondary Sports Association.From Blackboard and Chalk to AdvocacyAs she grew in her…

Within the past two decades, the proliferation of technology has changed the face of both Kenyan education and Kenyan workplaces. The ability to effectively use a computer and a smart phone has become as fundamental to a person’s academic and occupational success as reading, writing and arithmetic. These rapid changes in technology have also put the current learning and teaching system under huge pressure to adapt. The stellar performance of learners using educational games suggests significant importance of providing children with access to computers to enable them to learn adequate computer skills and enhance their educational experience (Trotter, 1998). As computers become a staple in each home, the number of homes with digital devices has significantly increased in the last 5 years with children, between the age of 2-18, having access to them. We have intelligent learning games currently driving the 3Rs; Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in class and at home. Learning game companies such as d-school World of Learning have revolutionized education in Kenya. The learning games have transformed learning and teaching of mathematics, reading, Science, character development and critical thinking lessons into adventures for all learners! In each of the class-based programs, students are invited to embark on a journey through the play World – a personalized 3D environment that knows and grows with your child. Along the way, students master dozens of skills based on world class educational standards.Designed by educators and built with cutting edge interactive play technology, such games are powerful supplemental learning solutions that every classroom needs.Key Features of such solutions include: -• Learning curriculum designed by educators and aligned with state standards• Classroom management system allows each teacher to organize their classroom and easily view progress by student or class.• Personalized learning system unlocks new lands and challenges according to each student’s progress•…

1. HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE SHAPED YOU INTO THE LEADER YOU ARE TODAY?Professionally, I have been in the higher education sector for 23 years, this is my 24th year. I started as a humble Accounts Clerk and I worked my way up to become the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). At HELB, I began honing my leadership skills by leading small teams and I grew over time to manage bigger teams. I found joy inspiring my teams to meet targets and day to day challenges. As my responsibilities grew, I attended various training programs that opened my mind on how to lead and manage people. Reading widely also helped me upscale my leadership skills. And by the time I became COO I had learnt new ways to inspire and motivate my 120 members of staff, to pursue a vision that would drive the institution to achieve beyond its core mandate, which included; lending, loan recoveries and documentation.2. YOU ARE NOW 9 MONTHS OLD AT THE HELM OF THE UNIVERSITIES FUND, HOW HAS THE TRANSITION BEEN FOR YOU?When I joined in December 2020, the Fund had not been operationalized and was minimally resourced. I took over an institution with only one employee, who happened to be the acting CEO, the Fund occupied 3 rooms at Teleposta Towers and the budget was only 24 million. However, in 9 months I have been able to lobby and our budget has been increased from 24million to 244million. With the support of the Cabinet Secretary, the Fund was allocated more spacious offices in the NACOSTI building where we currently are. Within this same period we have managed to come up with a revised Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC). And we are currently undertaking public private participation for the university funding…