In this article, we shall look at Mortuary attendant qualifications in Kenya for the sake of you, if you’re one of those who have no issue with this kind of a job.
Of course, we shall also tell you about the course you need to take to be considered for morgue attendant jobs by hospitals, private funeral homes, and county governments (mainly)
Mortuary attendant qualifications in Kenya
Overall, to be able to get employment as a mortuary attendant in Kenya, you need to have met the following minimum qualifications:
Mortuary attendant qualifications – full mortuary attendant qualifications in Kenya
- Be a legal Kenyan Citizen
- Relevant Training from any recognized institution – by this they mean you must have either a certificate in mortuary science in Kenya or a diploma in mortuary science
- KCSE D plain(Mean)
- Excellent interpersonal& communication skills
- Strong in languages (English and Swahili)
But I have also seen some organizations accepting applicants with the following qualifications:
- KCSE Mean Grade (aggregate): D(plain)
- Certificate in Computer studies(Good computer Application Skills), again from any recognized institution
However, if your dream career is a mortician, then I’d urge you to study mortuary science in Kenya formally because it will make you more competitive.
Which brings me to the next question:
Where can I study mortuary science in Kenya?
Now, if you have decided that this is what you want to do moving forward, you can check out the following institutions in Kenya and mortuary science requirements in Kenya
KMTC (Kenya Medical Training College)
KMTC recently introduced a diploma in mortuary science to fill the gap that is there in the market (there are not enough people who meet the minimum Mortuary attendant qualifications)
Diploma in mortuary science KMTC requirements
- KCSE Mean Grade (aggregate): C-(C minus)
Chiromo Funeral Parlour
They offer a certificate in mortuary science in Kenya and you only need a D plain to pursue it (there are no more certificate in mortuary science qualifications at Chiromo)..note that it takes 1 year to complete.
Others
- Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital (MTRH)
- Masinde Muliro University of Science&Technology (MMUST)
- Uzima University- They offer a Diploma too
A word about Chiromo mortuary courses
As hinted above, some morticians have been trained at the University of Nairobi’s Chiromo facility but since it is at the certificate(it is a certificate course), KMTC and other experts have deemed it fit to train more at the Diploma.
That way, it is believed that there will be a pool of very competent and properly qualified (professional) morticians for the market in Kenya.
So if you have the Diploma in mortuary science qualifications in Kenya, I’d suggest you take the Diploma directly.
Otherwise, if you already have a Certificate course in the trade, why not go for the KMTC’s Certificate-in-Mortuary-Science to Diploma upgrading course?
It will take you 2 Years to complete.
Typical duties and responsibilities for mortuary attendants in Kenya
- Transporting bodies from wards/casualty areas
- Receiving dead bodies from places such as wards, from the public and the police and delivering them to their parents/ relatives /police
- Wrapping the bodies in Mortuary sheets
- Labelling and storing the dead bodies in Cold Rooms(in a mortuary)
- Keeping appropriate registers of everything involving the dead bodies from the day of receiving them to the day of handing them over to parents/ relatives /police
- Ensuring correct billing for all services given
- Assisting during postmortems
- Cleaning(Washing) and disinfecting Mortuary equipment as well as all instruments after a postmortem.
- Embalming of bodies – that is when required
- Placing of the dead bodies in appropriate coffins(again when required)
- Ensuring the Mortuary is clean everywhere including cleaning Cold Room equipment/tools.
- Offering grief counselling(Counselling the relatives)
- Coordinating sale of coffins as well as the hiring of Hearse(while liaising with other involved departments)
Mortuary attendant qualifications in Kenya – Final words
Remember that if applying to county government positions (or to government owned facilities), you may be needed to have cleared with all Chapters 6 bodies including:
- KRA- Kenya Revenue Authority
- CRB- Credit Reference Bureau
- HELB(Higher Education Loans Board)
- EACC(Ethics & Anti-Corruption Commission)
- DCI(Directorate of Criminal Investigation)