NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 22 — Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called for the scrapping of a KCSE minimum requirement for housegirls headed to the Middle East.
The Deputy President who spoke during the launch of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Policy Framework at KICC in Nairobi said the requirement risked locking out many Kenyans for lack of academic credentials.
”I have seen the requirement for house girls going abroad encompassing a minimum qualification of Form IV certificate. We are defeating the whole of this exercise. If a lady knows how to take care of babies, let her go and look after kids abroad,” he said.
Gachagua claimed academic credentials do not necessarily translate into output saying some credentialed people earned huge salaries yet lacked skills.
“When I became Deputy President, I was given a professional landscaper with academic credentials who did some shoddy work at my official Residence. He had a lot of papers yet his work did not speak for it,” he stated.
The DP affirmed the government’s commitment to entrenching the RPL Policy Framework to help certify skills.
Kenya’s Cabinet approved an RPL policy in January 2024 following a 4-year process commenced in 2020.
The framework seeks to establish “a functional and credible system for recognition of knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired through practical work but not supported by corresponding academic or institutional qualifications”.