KAMPALA – 90 percent of the Technical Vocational and Education Training graduates are more skillful than their University counterparts, a new report has revealed.
Released by Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board – UBTEB Research Committee, Tracer Study reporter also indicated that 63 percent of these graduates get employed within one year after graduation.
“UBTEB graduates are more practical oriented because they are more skilled due to practical exposure, because of real-life projects done by UBTEB graduates, they do not need more attention at the time of recruitment like we do to university students, we do not struggle much with them when a new practical idea is Initiated, they know and understand how to use hand tools and machines compared to university graduate,” employers said.
The study was geared at establishing whether TVET graduates are employed and whether those employed are in their fields of study and performing to the expectations of the employers.
Study shows that approximately 95 percent of employers require that their employees should have a diploma qualification and only 5 percent revealed that a diploma qualification was not a prerequisite for job access.
“Persons with academic qualifications are considered employable by potential employers. Purba (2019) asserts that employees who have employability skills will easily enter, stay and do the job well than those that lack.”
In terms of hands-on skills, study shows that employers are 100 percent satisfied that the engineering TVET diploma prepared graduates either well or very well for the job market.
“Over 96 percent of the graduates identify engineering courses as helpful when searching for jobs. Career and personal development, fulfilling professional tasks development and finally this course can result into the economic development of the country.”
Focusing on the hands-on skills, employers unanimously agreed that the engineering TVET diploma prepared graduates either well or very well for the job market
However, on industrial training, students revealed that it takes a shorter period and does not provide students with the necessary skills. They are displeased with the way the industrial training is conducted.
This was confirmed by the curriculum specialists who revealed that industrial training challenges have greatly affected the quality of TVET graduates.
Speaking at the study release on Tuesday, Onesmus Oyesigye – Board Executive Secretary noted that they conducted the Tracer study in September 2023 with a total sample of 249 graduates of four National Diploma Engineering programs who completed from 2016 to 2019 including; National Diploma in Building and Civil Engineering, National Diploma in Electrical Engineering, National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and National Diploma in Water Engineering.
“The results of this study among other things indicated that 20.0% of graduates got employment in less than one month, 63% got a job within one year after graduation and 37 % got employment after more than one year. Most importantly, 95% of employers expressed positive satisfaction towards TVET graduates’ skills.”
He added, “In terms of TVET graduate employability regarding hands-on skills, employers are generally satisfied that the engineering TVET Diploma graduates are fit for the job market.”
He noted that with such findings, it gives them sufficient ground and proof that TVET is the way to go in Uganda in enabling job creation and increased productivity for social-economic transformation and National Development.
Oyesigye says that the findings of this study are a true reflection of the dynamic reforms that Uganda has put in place to realize the skilled, innovative, competent and competitive graduates that can support critical sectors of the economy such as manufacturing, Construction, Agriculture, ICT among others.
The study also noted that some graduates were doing jobs that did not match their educational levels. Regarding this, he noted that the Board has put various strategic interventions including the rollout of modular assessment with the contribution and input from the representatives of the industry to make sure that specific modules in a program of study impart the critical skills and expertise needed in the industry.
He is committed on behalf of the Board to providing quality and effective competency-based assessments and examinations that guarantee the production of competent graduates with 21st-century skills that meet the demands of the labour market.
Study recommendations
To reduce the time lag of 1 year between graduation and employment the Board should consider the provision of career development services: UBTEB can offer career development and placement services to assist graduates in their job search and career advancement. These services may include resume building, interview preparation, job fairs, and networking opportunities for the graduates.
34% of the respondents had their current jobs not matching their education levels therefore UBTEB should establish mechanisms to engage employers and industry to align educational programs with the needs of the job market to close the gap. Establishment of advisory boards or partnerships to ensure that the skills and knowledge imparted and assessed are in line with what employers seek in potential hires to strengthen the relationship between areas of study and skills requirements of employers.
To address the skills gap (entrepreneurship & soft skills, innovative and analytical skills) identified by the study the Board should conduct continuous research through monitoring and Evaluation to keep track of employability trends (unemployment, self-employment etc.) and put emphasis on the assessment of these critical skills and competences
Engage MOES & MOFPED to increase funding to facilitate curricula review every after 5years to match the changes in technology and to ensure Stakeholder engagement to provide broad input from different perspectives, including those who provide the training, graduates, UBTEB that does the assessment and those from industry who employ graduates.
The Board should emphasize improvement and effectiveness of Industrial training/on-job training to ensure that graduates are fully equipped for the job market through enhanced IT monitoring by the Board given the fact that 11% of graduates used it as a method to access the job market and it is one of the identified determinant of graduate employability.
UBTEB and training Institutions should constantly seek to improve the quality of the learning experience for students by conducting capacity-building programmes, paying attention to teaching methods, assessment systems, interaction with fellow students, library stock and services, the availability and quality of equipment (for instance ICTS), and the condition of their buildings and equipment. (through quality assurance inspection of institutions).
Enhancement of practical assessment by the Board should be done. UBTEB assessment of real-life projects has had a very positive impact on the quality of graduates both in the first and second years, where this indicator is required to complete projects, student performance is strong.