Competence

Certification Process
By
Prof. Charles Manasseh M.
Ondieki Chairman TCDACC

Competence
Certification

One of the roles of TCDACC is to award certificates to successful

trainees of CBET programs i.e., Competence Certification
Certification is the process of issuing a certificate as evidence of
a learner's achievement.
TCDACC certificates are only issued after successful completion of
the compulsory and optional modules of a qualification.
Testimonials and records of achievements (referred to as
Certificate of Competence) for partial completion of a
qualification can be issued to learners or their employers on
request.
TCDACC can delegate certification and the issuing of testimonials
and records of achievements to accredited awarding bodies.
To avoid the illegal issuing of certificates, TCDACC certificates will
have specific distinguishing security features that will be made
public.

Certification in CBET System

Certification in CBET system is based on
Continuous and summative assessments which are
based on the modules of the curricula and
assessment of the achievement of learning
outcomes and the knowledge with a final
assessment by external verifiers.
Continuous assessment will be done through
logbooks whereby both the trainee and trainer sign
to indicate attainment of specific competences.
Summary of the assessments conducted will be
prepared using the prescribed format and
transmitted to the TCDACC by the external
verifiers.

National Qualifications
National qualifications shall be available from registered
training providers, who offer accredited courses. National
certificates shall not be issued for new courses without the
approval of the TCDACC.
National qualifications shall have internationally recognized
characteristics. They shall:
Have a clear purpose.
Be internally coherent.
Recognize broad transferable and generic skills as well as
specialized industry and professional skills.
Be internationally credible.
Have clear indications of entry requirements wherever applicable.
Specify quality assurance requirements for training delivery and
assessment (unified and impartial).
Provide an indication of the relationship to other qualifications
wherever applicable.
Specify clearly the competencies to be achieved for the award of
the qualification.

Types of Qualifications
The council shall issue four types of qualifications:
Record of Achievement or Certificate of Competence*
National Certificate
National Diploma
National Higher Diploma

Record of Achievement* - Records of

Achievements are awarded for those who
demonstrate competence in some but not all of
the units of competence forming a National
Certificate or National Diploma.
Records of Achievements are useful as an
individual reference for learners and employees
who have yet to attain all the requirements to be
awarded a National qualification.

 The accredited testing center shall submit successful

candidates application for certification in prescribed
format to the council requesting for the issuance of a
TVET qualification.
All certificates shall bear the logo of the testing center/
training provider, the logo of the Council and the
National emblem.
The qualification certificate or record of achievement
shall contain the signature of the Council Secretary
and the signature of director/CEO of the testing center.
Trainees shall only be eligible to be issued with
Certificates of competence upon successful
completion of clusters of units /modules for any given
trade
National certificates/qualifications shall only be
issued to graduates upon successful completion of the
whole training program.

Procedure for Certification

Accredited testing center submits successful
candidates application for certification in
prescribed format to the Certification Council.
The Council scrutinizes the candidates
assessment information to ensure accuracy and
completeness.
Printing of Certificate is done or in cases where a
candidate has completed portions of assessment,
a record of achievement is printed.
The certificate or record of achievement is signed
by Certification Council Secretary and
director/CEO of the testing center.
The certificate or record of achievement is issued
to the candidate by the testing center.

Guidelines for Certification

Approved training provider shall provide accurate
details of the trainee which includes: name, National
Identity Card (NIC) number, qualification code and
effective date of the Certificate and/or Record of
Achievement.
NIC number is the key data for traceability of trainee
qualification in future; However Passport number is
acceptable in place of NIC number for foreign students.
National Diplomas, National certificates and records of
achievement are awarded jointly by the Certification
Council and approved training provider.
All certificates and records of achievement shall carry
provision for the logo of the training provider or
accredited establishment along with the logo of the
Council and National emblem.

 The certificates and records of achievement

shall contain the signature of the CDACC
Council Secretary and the signature of
director/CEO of the training provider.
All data of certificate holders are stored at
the Councils data base.
The Council will issue a national TVET
Qualification for all competent candidates
who have completed relevant qualifications.
Director/CEO of the training provider must
acknowledge receipt of certificate (s) by
signing and returning the appropriate
document to the Council secretary.

RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING (RPL)

Recognition of Prior Learning is a process that recognizes a
learners current competencies which may have been achieved
through means that include any combination of formal or
informal training and education, work experience or general life
experience regardless of where or how the learning took place.
Recognition of uncertified learning may be combined with any
formal certification to enable assessment decisions to be made.
The national vocational qualifications system shall recognize
prior learning based on national competency standards and
determine the extent to which an individual has achieved the
required competencies for partial or total completion of a
national vocational qualification.
CBET Framework Provides RPL only up to certificate levels.
A testing center that wishes to conduct RPL assessments shall
apply to the Council with sufficient evidence of staffing, policies
and procedures as well as the necessary infrastructure and
resources.

The Importance of RPL

Many workers and other disadvantaged groups are
denied opportunities for employment, promotion and
salary increase in favour of those who have formal
education and training qualifications. This results in the
lack of access and equity and inefficiencies in the
workplace because of the inability to fully recognize and
utilize the existing skills, knowledge and values
possessed by these workers.
RPL provides for the formal recognition of the skills,
knowledge and values that have been developed and
acquired in a range of different ways. This is done by
assessing the respective candidates against nationally
agreed standards that are registered on the TQF. The
candidates receive credits which open up access to
opportunities for employment, promotion and further
education and training.

Procedure for Conducting Recognition of

Prior Learning (RPL)
The RPL candidate applies by completing RPL
application and forwards to RPL Coordinator
along with any supporting evidence/documents.
RPL coordinator assigns an assessor and
verifier.
RPL coordinator forwards copy of RPL
Application and other evidence to Assessor.
The assessor contacts candidate to commence
assessment process.
The assessor prepares assessment plan.
The candidate provides evidence of
competence.

 The assessor assesses candidates evidence

against unit(s) requirements and records
outcomes.
The assessor provides feedback to candidate on
assessment outcome and obtains signed
acknowledgement from the candidate.
The assessor returns completed RPL Assessment
record book to RPL Coordinator.
The RPL coordinator forwards all related
documents and records to the verifier
The verifier reviews and verifies the assessment
decision and forwards the duly completed form
and formats to the Certification Council for
issuing the Qualification.

Alignment of Existing Qualifications

One of the major challenges in the
operationalization of the CBETF is the
alignment of existing non-TVET qualifications
against the CBETF. These could be external
qualifications offered in other countries or
non-TVET qualifications offered in Kenya.
This is important in order to promote a
unified TVET system and make the
similarities and differences between the new
and old qualifications transparent to
learners, employers and other stakeholders.

 The following procedure shall be followed

to assess and evaluate qualifications; the
analysis is based on the following
criteria:
Duration of the training program undertaken
by the holder of the respective qualifications
in relation to the credit system of the CBETF
Contents of the training programs (syllabus)
against the learning outcomes specified in
the relevant modules of the CBETF
qualifications
Method of training delivery
Mode of assessment used