The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) developed the 10-year BTVET Strategic Plan dubbed “Skilling Uganda” emphasizing a paradigm shift in the BTVET sub-sector. Prior to the implementation of the plan, existing technical and vocational training programmes were theoretical and not relevant to the world of work and hence students acquired certificates and not skills.
The sector is moving from the issuance of educational certificates to provision of skills and competences relevant in the labour market, low achieving school leavers to provision of skills to all Ugandans; school system to a flexible workplace oriented environment, government to private/ public partnership.
During the initial stages of implementation of Skilling Uganda, Government introduced competence based Education and Training hinged on a modular curriculum that ensures that the content is relevant to the world of work and assessment is based on industrial work standards.
The Qualifications framework provides the occupational and assessment standards in the word of work, vocational qualifications for learners who meet the standards of the different studies and the guidelines for modular training and assessment.
Private providers with more than 300 institutions are being supported under BTVET to expand further and foster a market led expansion of BTVET supply under the Non –formal Education programme.
Through the Uganda Private Vocational Institutions (UGAPRIVI) and the Directorate of industrial Training (DIT) a number of private sector institutions have been accredited as training and assessment centres.
The BTVET sub sector has trained technical teachers in order to develop their skills while technical teachers from UGAPRIV institutions embarked on a one year Kyambogo University Program in the field of Technical Teacher training.
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Government has reduced the number of districts without a technical institution to 26 districts through establishment of technical institutes in 17 districts without a technical institution. The Government has also constructed health and departmental training institutions and are at different levels of completion.
Counterpart funding amounting to UGX 2,218,164,232 was included in the annual budget for the FY 2013/14, for civil works at the nine (9) OPEC and three (3) IDB-funded sites. Another 4.5m USD has been provided by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the construction of a Vocational Institute.