Social associations, the world over, have been a building block to social development of a given profession through the promotion of the ideologies of the profession in the association of its members. In developed countries like United Kingdom, these associations command a lot of respect not only among the professing members but also act a symbol of authority in there given line of professions. In Kenya, a spot check, will easily tell a scholar or a concerned member in the fire safety profession that there is no 'real' association of fire safety professionals in Kenya. The current associations, the many as they are, does not meet the slightest of the logical requirement of the needs of fire professionals locally as they are mainly centered on few individuals who benefit from the goodies that come with the few members contribution and the occasional publicity stints from the local media.
The current situation
A fire professional is a member of a fire safety profession that is defined by certain standards in fire safety education and fire safety training in order prepare them to perform the roles of the profession. This definition is eroded in Kenyan fire safety profession, in that, looking at the fire safety education standards, the best qualification one can boast of is the Institution of Fire Engineers qualification, never to mind the level as most organizations have no idea. Locally, there are private and public colleges offering the diploma in fire safety and some even go to the extent of offering a diploma in fire engineering again without the per-requisites. This again is interesting to note as the Kenya Institute of Education (currently Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development) is yet to develop a curriculum for fire safety and engineering. The question then is; what is the curriculum followed by these middle level colleges and how did they get approvals in the Kenyan education system?
Absence of a clear structure in fire safety education standards may give a glimpse of why there is no standard association with a commanding authority and not "individual" as they are today. Just like the law society of Kenya, the association land surveyors of Kenya, and many others with standards of education and training to be attained before joining the membership, the fire safety profession needs an urgent surgery by like minded individuals with the right education and training in fire safety to build a society that will not only serve their generation but will change the way fire safety is professed in Kenya.
The solution
Most associations are initiated by individuals with a vision of professional prosperity and that individual in Kenya is yet to come out or better be born as they say leaders are born. A society that is individual centered as most are in the fire sector industry does not go far and coupled with the limited education and training, will remain just another outfit for the registrar of company file records with not much to write home about.
It is with hope that a fire safety professional association will be born in Kenya that will help the KIE (KICD) develop a fire safety curriculum, set standards for its members on level of education and training and encourage our universities of higher learning to introduce courses on fire safety that focuses on our local needs like the KASNEB. When this comes to pass, and if am still on this business of writing, my title would definately change to "The Association that has changed the Kenyan face of fire safety professionals".
The writer is a PhD student at JKUAT focusing on fire service delivery
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