Students under IGAD to study freely in any member state

Students under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) block will soon be able to study in any of the member states.

This follows an ongoing initiative to come up with a regional harmonised qualification framework. The member states are Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, Uganda, South Sudan and Eritrea.

Kenya National Qualification Authority (KNQA) managing director Prof. Juma Mukhwana said the reason for having a regional qualification framework is to help the citizens from member states to work and continue with studies in any member country without facing obstacles as is the case at the moment. 

“Each member state will come up with its own qualification framework, which will be aligned to the IGAD regional framework. The reason why we are doing this is that we have a lot of citizens moving across the borders for different reasons and the whole idea is to make it easier for one to move across the regions with his or her qualifications to work or for further studies,” said Mukhwana.

Mukwana was speaking during the second regional consultative meeting on the proposed IGAD regional qualification framework.

“Once we have the regional framework, we shall set standards and harmonise our qualifications so that it makes you easier to move across the member states to work or study,” he said.

Mukhwana clarified that the different education curricula will not hinder the qualifications framework.

The KNQA boss said the framework will remove the challenges like getting fake foreign qualifications and translation issues that have existed for long. 

‘‘We will have one place where one can go and convert his or her qualifications in affair and transparent way without disadvantaging the person or learner,’’ he said.