<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.6003" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; TEXT-ALIGN: left"
align=left><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3>Hi all,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; TEXT-ALIGN: left"
align=left><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; TEXT-ALIGN: left"
align=left><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3>Thankyou for allowing me to join your mailing list. I wish to
contirbute to the discussion above dated august
6.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; tab-stops: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT
size=3>Robert raised an issue which is of concern across board i.e., to all
other stakeholders including some trainers, which is: T<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">he standard of training in IT in
Kenya</B>. I recall a meeting with Dr. Ndemo and Mr. Kukubo and others which
proposed a taskforce to look into the issue of IT training in Kenya. As Dr.
Ndemo puts it, an examining body must exist to ensure the syllabus coverage
and skills imparted before any certification. This way, any employer or other
stakeholder is assured of quality when engaging a certified graduate. KASNEB
mandate has now been expanded to include accreditation of colleges that train
for its examinations. Consequently, KASNEB has established a directorate to
specifically address issues of accreditation in order to ensure quality
training. The mandate of KASNEB is to develop syllabuses, conduct professional
and technician examinations and certification of candidates in finance,
accountancy, management, information technology among other related
disciplines, a task it has handled well since 1969 (as Dr Ndemo cites the
preference of CPA over other foreign accountancy
examinations).<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; tab-stops: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; tab-stops: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT
size=3>The taskforce Walu mentions, of which I am also a member, was appointed
by KASNEB. This taskforce was never meant to create or replicate a local
version of ICDL but to come up with an end user basic skills or minimum
computer literacy curriculum that not only addresses local needs but is also
globally competitive. The taskforce commenced by addressing and researching on
“What constitutes minimum computer literacy in Kenya?” Armed with the
findings, the taskforce settled down to work coming up with a content that was
presented to the various committees of KASNEB as per the procedure of
developing a curriculum. By the way, Walu must have misconceived a challenge
in the Board’s perception because the Board of KASNEB has been very supportive
of the whole idea including the electronic system approach, and even provided
a lot of input at various stages of the development of the curriculum. (Alex,
you were a member of the taskforce. You can confirm).<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In fact, KASNEB is now in the final
stages of the development of the curriculum, before releasing the content to a
wider circle of stakeholders for their input. It is worthy to note that KASNEB
is a service oriented, not for profit State Corporation and charges only
administrative costs as fees hence the low cost Walu mentions. This supports
Harry’s comment that money is not the issue and the concern of losing
traditional income streams does not therefore
arise.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; tab-stops: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0in; tab-stops: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT
size=3>KASNEB is open to suggestions and positive critique and welcomes new
ideas that are aimed at promoting professionalism in Kenya and
beyond.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>