KAMPALA – As the government of Uganda goes to implement her National Development Plan III (NDPIII) as one of the instruments for driving vision 2040, there are a number of strategies which among is modularised assessment for all the Technical and Vocational Education and Training – TVET institutions.
In so doing, Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB) is currently conducting the first series of competency-based assessments and examinations for a total of 53,765 Candidates from 506 examination centres across the country from 1st August 2022 to 19th August 2022.
On Tuesday, PML Daily visited Nakawa Vocational Training College and students were ready and doing their practical papers in different fields.
Mr. Okwi Festus – doing automotive mechanics was busy with his automotive fitting and publication paper which he hopes to pass well, be certified and start earning some living.
“I decided to join vocation because I wanted to be a job creator but not a job seeker because, with the skills acquired here, you can easily create jobs. For example, after getting my certificate here, I can open up my garage and start employing other young people,” he said, noting that he has so far acquired knowledge on engine systems, technician science, mathematics and also English.
Ms. Ahumuza Catherine, one of the 11 girls out of 84 students doing electrical installation says she used to see electricians and admired them and decided to become an engine in electricity “but most importantly, to employ myself.”
She attributed the less number of females to the fear of most girls being shocked by electricity.
“Some people have died because of electricity but you have to observe the hazards and become careful.”
Both Ahumuza and Festus think that today, there is no job a man can do a woman can’t.
“What I can tell my fellow youth, especially the girls, such courses aren’t for only men but for all of us. You don’t need a lot of energy to do them. After here, you can actually be employed in a big company to supervise others, not necessarily doing a job manually by yourself,” said Festus.
Mr. Muwanga Godfrey, principal Nakawa Vocational Training College commended UBTEB for the development, saying that TVET institutions are supposed to improve the way we conduct training in order for this country to attain a middle-income status “and the best way is to be modularised such that at the end of every module, learners are able to produce products and be assessed against which one will be evaluated whether is really fit to be employable in the world of work.”
He says that under modular training, the curriculum is arranged according to modules which helps to teach learners a given module “unlike the other training where somebody is training so many areas and at the are assessed in so many areas.”
According to him, such assessment is very necessary because it helps the learners since they are being trained to acquire specific competencies which are employable.
Mr. Muwanga noted that the modular examinations will be done twice a year
He is very optimistic that his learners will pass because “our training has been focused and the assessment is also focused.”
Speaking to the press on Saturday, Mr. Onesmus Oyesigye – UBTEB Executive Secretary said that since the opening of education and training institutions, the Board has conducted successfully 3 examination series.
The Board is going to conduct the first set of 30,369 candidates under the modularized assessment and examinations for both National Certificate-Technical and Uganda Community Polytechnics programmes from 405 TVET institutions.
6,729 of the candidates, 1,125 of whom are females will sit for higher and National Diploma-Technical and Vocational programmes
Another category is Physical Sciences, Biological and Agricultural Sciences which will see 1,981 candidates write their exams. Amongst these, 715 are females.
Also, 10,174 females out of 14,686 candidates will sit for Business and Humanities.
For modular programmes – National Certificate – Technical and UCPC, a total of 30,369 candidates are expected, 8,817 are females.
Amongst the candidates, 187 are ones with special needs 47 of whom are females. The special needs cases include; Dyslexic, Visual impairment (blind), Hard of hearing (deaf), Physical disability and others with mental disorders.
Oyesigye told the press that among these, 61 candidates will be accorded specialized education arrangements such as sign language interpreters and transcribers and supports, while others will be accorded extra 30 minutes.
The Board has also deployed 600 Examinations managers including Reconnoiters and Monitors to ensure maximum security during the exercise.
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