All technicians, vocational workers in Uganda to be certified

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  The technical and vocation educational training -TVET) policy of Uganda has been reformed to ensure that all the skilled manpower from the vocational institutes will have to be assessed and certified by the DIT before getting into the world of work.

The Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) head reveals that all vocational skilled manpower will henceforth have to be assessed and certified by the quality assurance body in the country.

Patrick Byakatonda, the Director DIT says that lack of competence assessment and certification for vocational manpower before they join the world of work is one of the key reasons as to why  people undermine local skilled personnel compared  to the same manpower from the  region especially Kenya were certification is mandatory.

According to Byakatonda in Uganda quality assurance certification is optional for the TVET skilled manpower going to the world of work which he says has left the sector in a dilemma and its output to the market.

Byakatonda  says that as Uganda goes into industrialization it is important to ensure that the manpower to take on the jobs are of quality and this can be achieved by having them assessed and certified by DIT.

Byakatonda says that as government intervenes to popularize the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) policy and also construction of industrial parks, issues of quality assurance for the personnel to serve in the chain should also be prioritized.

He explains that technical and vocation educational training (TVET) policy has been reformed to ensure that all the skilled manpower from the vocational institutes will have to be assessed and certified by the DIT before getting into the world of work.

Byakatonda launching the TVET guide developed by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee -BRAC Uganda supported the demand from the TVET experts that calls for a syllabus that is market driven.

He elaborates further that the TVET policy advocates for demand-driven meaning that the employer need to be involved in developing the curriculum to avoid skills miss match.

This follows TVET experts’ concern over the need to involve employers in the developing of the vocational skills syllabus.

Jimmy Moses Otim a TVET expert from Brac Uganda says the role of TVET in providing employment especially to the youth shouldn’t be underestimated as many start earning before they complete their studies to join the world of work.

Otim notes that if government fully unlocked the potential of vocational and technical Education Training, the current over one million young Ugandans that reach the age of work every year according to UNDP statistics would not be suffering to look jobs.

Otim adds that in the TVET sector recruitment should be based on both certificate and experience, hence the need to certify all TVET trainers by the TVET council for quality output.

********

URN