Trade Testing which is a component of RPL in many countries including South Africa, Tanzania, India and Australia  aims at providing evidence that a certified worker possesses the requisite employable skills and competencies to execute tasks in his/her trade area. Since its inception, Trade Test is recognized by employers as a reliable way of establishing the competence of workers thus allowing for appropriate placement at the workplace. It is an important tool which, as per the Kenya Labour Laws, has been used as a key component for the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).

Every year, NITA assesses approximately 60,000 candidates through trade test most of whom are youth in the informal sector. The main regulatory tools for Trade Testing are the Assessment Guidelines which are derived from industry developed Occupational Standards for each level. Currently, there are more than forty (40) trade areas under Trade Test for occupational areas ranging from building technology, electrical engineering, clothing & leather technology, motor vehicle technology and mechanical engineering. Plans are underway to commence assessment in another thirty (30) trade areas for which the assessment guidelines have been recently developed and gazetted. This will enable recognition of prior learning in diverse fields and levels of learning.

 A key structural challenge that has faced Trade Testing System has been the restriction to only three (3) levels i.e., Artisan Grades III, II and I (Grade III being the lowest and Grade-I the highest). Moreover, currently only Grade III of Trade Test could be categorized as RPL where an open test is provided to a candidate who feels competent without requiring them to provide evidence of where, when or how they acquired the skills.  The establishment of the KNQF and the launch of RPL provides the Authority with an opportunity to offer qualifications at levels beyond Grade I at Master Craft Person III, II, I and Professional Master Craft Person. The RPL system will also enable assessment of candidates at their appropriate skill level without the requirement of sequential progression from Grade III. 

Following the approval of the RPL Policy Framework and Implementation Guidelines in Kenya, NITA was identified as a key player in the implementation of RPL due to her history and experience in execution of RPL related processes especially the National Trade Test. The ILO and KNQA were also involved in coordinating the exercise.

The  planned  RPL  extended  pilot  in  the  country took place in  8  counties  namely; Nairobi;  Kisumu;  Busia;  Trans-Nzoia;  Turkana;  Nyeri;  Mombasa  and  Garissa.  636 candidates  were  identified  through  Kenya  National  Federation  of  Jua  Kali Association    (KNFJKA)-429    candidates;    International    Rescue    Cenre    (IRC)-78 candidates and Department of Refugee Services (DRS)-129 candidates. In addition, we on-boarded additional candidates from Toolkit Institute Ltd. (100 candidates) and Milly Glass Ltd. (18 candidates) as part of this process.  The technical staff involved in this planning were ITOs in Clothing Technology, Hairdressing & Beauty, Mechanical Engineering and Automotive Engineering. These four areas comprise the trades of focus by the RPL extended pilot. However, the Toolkit Institute and Milly Glass Ltd. have additional trade areas,namely  SolarPV  and  EWM/ELF.  The  technical  team  mapped  a  number  of activities which were largely be executed by the  NITA-ILO trained RPL Practitioners drawn from across all ITCs for compliance.

With the support of the team, the Authority mapped out the RPL extended pilot activities in line with the ILO/KNQA projections. The Roll- out of the RPL Pilot began with Screening of Applications which entailed the following aspects.

1. Screening of the application and evidence to ascertain the suitability of the candidate for the applied occupation and modules;
2. Notification to the candidate on whether he/she is admitted or not to the RPL process;
3. If successful the Candidate’s RPL application shall be sent by the coordinator to the RPL assessor;
4. The Coordinator shall supervise the Internal Assessor, the External Assessor, moderator and all the staff of the provider throughout the process;
5. The certification takes not more than 20 working days from the date of admission.

RPL will assist the Authority in realizing its transformation agenda and to claim its rightful position in the skill development sector as envisaged in Kenya Vision 2030. I call upon employees and persons in the formal and informal sector who possess skills in any field that are not recognized to visit any of our industrial training centers for facilitation through RPL.