GUIDELINES FOR ACCREDITATION

THE KNEC GUIDELINES FOR ACCREDITATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITATION OF AN INSTITUTION

In order to be accredited, a body or institution should fulfill the following conditions:

• The institution should be able to deliver and/or evaluate learning programmes that meet specified standards.  Thus, the institution should demonstrate that it has:

a) a sufficient number of competent practitioners in terms of their education, training and development to deliver and/or evaluate the learning programmes.
b) necessary and adequate equipment and/or facilities to support the learning and assessment process in relation to the learning programmes.

• The institution should demonstrate that it has capacity to fulfil its function in terms of:

a) the necessary financial, administrative and physical resources:
b) the policies and practices for the management of assessment:
c) the policies and practices for staff selection, appraisal and development: and
d) the quality management system and mechanisms which ensure that management policies and procedures defined are applied and remain effective.

PROCESS OF ACCREDITATION FOR AN INSTITUTION

The following steps shall be followed during the process of accreditation:

The body or institution seeking accreditation shall indicate its intention by applying for accreditation to the Council.

The Council shall then acknowledge the application and provide the applicant with the standard application form.
The applicant shall submit the completed application form together with relevant documentation to the Council for evaluation and consideration.

If the application does not comply with all the accreditation requirements, the Council shall provide feedback to the applicant on accreditation requirements not complied with.

If the application complies with all the accreditation requirements, the Council shall establish an accreditation verification team to establish the capacity of the applicant to fulfill the function applied for.

The accreditation verification team shall visit the applying institution to evaluate its capacity to carry out the function and then report back to the Council for approval.

a) If it is established that the applicant does not meet the requirements, then the applicant shall be advised to take the necessary corrective action and the verification will be reviewed thereafter.

b) If it is established that the applicant complies with all the accreditation requirements, the accreditation verification team shall make the recommendation for approval to the Council.

The Council shall consider the recommendations in the report and issue an accreditation certificate to the applicant if compliance with the specified conditions is established.

The Council shall then monitor the performance of the accredited institution to ensure continuous compliance with the accreditation standards.

If non-compliance to accreditation standards is observed, the accreditation shall be withdrawn or the accredited institution shall be asked to take the necessary corrective action.

If compliance to accreditation standards is observed, the accreditation status shall be maintained.

1.3    REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

The following steps are to be followed during the process of accreditation:

• Before a programme can be accredited, the institution awarding the qualification must be recognized and/or accredited in its mother country and documentary evidence to show proof of such a recognition or accreditation must be submitted to the Council for verification.
  
  
• The institution must apply to KNEC for validation or accreditation of its programme using standard application form designed by the KNEC.
  
  
• KNEC will be guided by conventions governing recognition of institutions that state that if the institution offering the programme or course is recognized in its country of origin then the institution is also recognized by KNEC.
  
  
• The KNEC will, where necessary, collaborate with the relevant institutions and/or government departments which have the expertise in the area of study.
  
  
• For purposes of accreditation, the institution will be required to apply to KNEC and submit the following:

a)  the course syllabus and regulations;
b)  duration of study/contact hours for a given qualification;
c)  the relevance of the qualification for admission for further studies;
d)  previous background/achievement or minimum entry requirement before enrolling for the qualification; and in the case of professional courses,
e)  information on whether the programme or course can lead to registration for practicing in the country of origin.

• The KNEC shall verify, through an inspection or otherwise, whether the institution applying for accreditation has the capacity to develop, administer, mark, process and award certificates according to set standards.
  
  
• Any application for accreditation of a programme or course will be accompanied by a fee as determined by the KNEC from time to time.
  
  
• Upon receipt of the application and all the relevant documents, the KNEC shall constitute a committee to evaluate the programme.  The committee may accredit the programme, reject it or suggest amendments to be made to the programme by the institution.
  
  
• The KNEC shall issue a certificate(s) of accreditation to an institution whose programme(s) has (have) been accredited.
  
  
• Where the KNEC declines to issue a certificate of accreditation, it shall inform the institution of the conditions that led to the action.  It shall be an offense for a person or an institution to advertise or in any other manner pass off a programme after such a programme has not been accredited or has been rejected for accreditation indicating that such a programme is associated with KNEC.
  
  
• Where a programme has been accredited, the KNEC reserves the right to re-evaluate the programme as it may deem necessary.
  
  
• Re-evaluation of a programme that had been previously accredited may lead to its revocation depending on whether the programme continues to meet the required conditions and the relevance of the programme.
  
  
• Any time the KNEC decides to re-evaluate a programme or course for an institution, the institution shall be required to remit a fee as determined by the KNEC.
  
  
• The KNEC shall maintain a register of all the accredited programmes indicating:-

a)    the institution;
b)    date of accreditation;
c)    terms and conditions upon which the certificate of accreditation was granted or issued; and
d)    any other information that KNEC may deem necessary.

• The KNEC shall play a supervisory role in the development and administration of the examinations for the accredited bodies to ensure that the validity and reliability of the examinations are maintained.