It was with shock and disbelieve when I read an article in the dailies indicating that the government has decided to use the Microsoft certification ICDL (International Computer Driving License) as the approved application compliance qualification. This is definitely a slap in the faces of all those associations and government agencies that have over the years developed generic curriculum for applications certification. How does the government frustrate all this efforts for years just to wake up one morning and literally cripple our institutions because a "donor" as offered "free" services. It is a fact that in 90% of cases the first sniff of cocaine that an addict took was given to them for free, due to its highly addictive properties the dealer knows that it will only be a matter of time before that free sampler becomes a hooked client. The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), University of Nairobi, Computer Society of Kenya and even Pitmans have tried and tested curriculum for computer applications competency training. What makes this more practical that the ICDL is that they are generic and not product specific. In addition they are cheaper to administer and examine all most of them require is just an upgrade so that exams can be administered online further reducing costs. The cost of examinations for ICDL is Ksh. 24,000/- at an exchange rate of 78/- to the dollar, this is equivalent to 1 year tuition for a University degree program. Are we really serious about encouraging ICT education and effective utilization? "When they came for my neighbour I said nothing, when they came for my brother I said nothing and when they came for me there was no one to say anything" We said nothing when Cisco moved in a set up so called Cisco Academies yet we all knew that this was wrong as Cisco teaches a product specific routing implementation based on their operating system which denies the graduand an open mind when it comes to providing solutions. Microsoft was stopped from providing software and their certification programs to schools in the same way that depo provera was withdrawn from public health facilities in the US & Europe yet like a herd of sheep we adopt all blindly. Can we please stop this madness! Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696