The Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board-UBTEB is calling for a review of the unit cost for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs in the country.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has not reviewed the funds allocated to institutions for years, which has negatively impacted the quality of teaching, learning, and assessment.
During the release of the November-December 2022 end-of-program and modular assessment results, Professor Maud Kamatenesi, a UBTEB board member, emphasized the importance of increasing government funding for TVET to adequately cover the cost of running practical assessments.
“Increasing government funding for TVET could adequately cover the cost of running practical assessments. This would ultimately lead to the production of quality graduates who can effectively compete in the job market,” Prof Kamatenesi noted.
Onesmus Oyesigye, UBTEB’s Executive Secretary, also supported the need for a review of the unit cost, stating that the TVET is expensive, and the unit cost keeps changing with the price of items used. He added that schools are finding it hard to teach learners due to ever-increasing material prices, with government funding of 1800 shillings per learner per day.
The new reforms in the TVET system require learners to be engaged in real-life projects and put emphasis on training with production rather than models, which calls for more funding.
State Minister John Chrysostom Muyingo acknowledged the urgency of the matter and ordered the technical team to work with relevant authorities to address the problem.
Furthermore, Oyesigye, announced that the board will be phasing out the advanced-level certificate. This certificate is currently given to students who attained Craft 1 qualifications that were administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board before the establishment of UBTEB.
Oyesigye said that learners have been given a two-year window to enroll for the advanced level certificate before the board closes the window for upgrades.
On assessment, UBTEB has reported a high success rate in the recently concluded examinations. Out of the 66,954 candidates who sat for the exams, 52,373 candidates (78.2%) successfully acquired all the competencies in their respective trades.
The physical and biological science diploma end-of-program had a 100 percent pass rate, while the business diploma had an 82.3% pass rate. The technical national certificate modular assessment had an 80% pass rate, and the technical national certificate end-of-program had a 76.3% pass rate.
However, the board has identified a gap in the number of candidates who acquired full competence in learners pursuing leather tanning and production, welding and metal fabrication, woodwork technology, and machining and fitting.