KAMPALA/UGANDA: Equipping Ugandans with vocational skills has been one of the key outputs of the government of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
This is because a skilled population is able to fend for itself in a vale of unemployment and hopelessness.
The Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB) has been at the core of examining and certifying skilled Ugandans in order to augment the NRM’s efforts of transformation.
But did you know what UBTEB has done and how it has impacted many?
Read on:
History
UBTEB was established by the Government of Uganda through the BTVET Act 2008 and operationalized by the Statutory Instrument 2009 No.9. Its mandate is to streamline, regulate, coordinate and conduct credible national; examinations and awards certificates and Diplomas in Business, technical, vocational and specialized professions in Uganda.
Achievements:
In its 10 years of existence, UBTEB has registered major milestones in TVET Assessment, such as an increment in enrollment for TVET Assessment from 9198 candidates in 2011 to 79,901 in 2021; increased female enrolment in TVET programs; increased involvement of the industry and employers for TVET Assessment; enhanced practical training and assessment through industrial training and real-life project assessment, (in building facilities, domestic wiring, car repairs, fashion and design, and great innovations, among others); and expanded regional and local partnerships with both professional bodies and TVET Assessment network bodies. (IVETA, AEEA).
The Board’s cadre output to date stands at 104,804 (23,556 female and 81,248 males) Artisans and Technicians working across the globe. This however excludes candidates whose assessment results are yet to be released.
The number of academic programs examined by the Board currently stands at 170 for TVET programs that enroll candidates after P7, S,4, S.6, and other levels. Candidates in these TVET Programmes are assessed from UBTEB accredited and registered 592 TVET Institutions as assessment centers as of 2022 compared to 191 in 2011 when we received the mandate from UNEB.
The Promise to Ugandans
Over the years, the Board has continued to stick to the core values of integrity, and professionalism, which has enabled us to conduct all examination series without any examination leakages.
As a competence-based assessment body, the board has launched an assessment center that is customized to house laboratories and workshops that will be used in preparations for practical examinations.
The Board’s journey has been one of progressive impact with a few areas for improvement, like the cost of materials for hands-on assessment in TVET institutions because of competence-based curricula, where the assessment of competencies is at 70% and theory knowledge takes only 30%.