Participants engaged in the Recognition of Prior Learning capacity-building workshop in Dar es Salaam, strengthening inclusive education systems in East Africa. Picture suppliedAcross Africa, millions of people acquire valuable skills and knowledge through lived experience, yet these competencies often go unrecognised within formal contexts such as occupational, vocational education and training, and higher education institutions. At the University of the Western Cape (UWC), efforts to address this gap recently extended into East Africa through a high-level capacity-building initiative focused on Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Facilitated by UWC’s Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS) in partnership with DVV International, a three-day workshop held in Dar es Salaam brought together key stakeholders from Tanzania and Uganda’s adult education sectors. Building on UWC’s RPL experiences accumulated over 25 years, Dr Natheem Hendricks and Dr Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa facilitated the workshop.
DVV International provides worldwide support for the development of sustainable structures for youth and adult education. This workshop series engaged senior representatives from national ministries, training institutions and regulatory bodies with a shared focus on strengthening the implementation of RPL systems in both countries.
Participants engaged in the Recognition of Prior Learning capacity?building workshop in Dar es Salaam, strengthening inclusive education systems in East Africa. Picture. SuppliedRPL is widely recognised as an important mechanism for formally recognising knowledge and skills gained through non-formal and informal learning. This is particularly significant in African contexts, where large numbers of workers operate within the informal economy without formal certification. As highlighted in continental frameworks, “knowledge and skills in Africa are plenty, but very few of them are recognised in a document, such as a qualification.”
The workshop addressed this gap by focusing on developing assessment frameworks, standards and practical tools for RPL implementation. Drawing on South Africa’s experience and regional guidelines, participants engaged deeply with policy design, assessment processes and institutional adaptation.
The Tanzanian DVV International coordinator, Matteo Mwita, expressed his appreciation: “The workshop was both enlightening and valuable, and we look forward to learning more and staying in touch.” Additionally, participants from the higher education sector indicated how their expectations for the workshop were exceeded. One participant said: “The workshop was enlightening and very engaging. I valued the practical knowledge as far as RPL is concerned.”
A key feature of the engagement was the use of popular education methodologies, which centred participants’ lived experiences in the learning process. This ensured that models and tools were not simply transferred, but adapted to reflect local realities and institutional contexts.
