Prof. Baryamureeba Calls for Review of the Education Sector

1. SKILLING UGANDA FOR ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY AND
DEVELOPMENT
Topic: On the Current Skills Development Process in Uganda and
its Relevance to the World of Work, 09.10am-10.50am, 25/09/14
Discussant: Professor Venansius Baryamureeba, VC UTAMU,
barya@utamu.ac.ug

2. Overview
• Skilling Uganda Strategic Plan
– BTVET 10 year strategic plan
• Current Skills Development Process in Uganda
• Current Skills Relevance to World of Work
• Recommendations

3. PART 1
• The current skills development process to the
world of work: BTVET

4. Trends in the Uganda Education System
• Moving from issuance of educational certificates
to provision of skills and competences relevant to
the labour market
• Moving from low achieving school leavers to
provision of skills to all Ugandans
• Moving from school system to a flexible
workplace oriented environment
• Moving to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
• Moving from government provision of education
to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)

5. How Prepared Are We For This Paradigm Shift ?
• Do we have the right curricula in place?
• How equipped are the workshops and
laboratories?
• Have the tutors/instructors been retooled in
Competency Based Education and Training
(CBET)?
• Do we have enough tutors/instructors?
• Can the National Development Plan (NDP)
identify the project Manpower needs for the
country or we should we come up with the
Manpower plan?

6. Uganda Qualifications Framework for BTVET
• The Qualifications framework provides the
occupational and assessment standards in the
world of work, vocational qualifications for
learners who meet the standards of the different
studies and guidelines for modular training and
assessment.
• Emerging issues:
– To what extent are the occupational and assessment
standards followed?
– Are students and teachers prepared for modular type
of training?

7. Strengthening The Prog Of Instructor Training
• The BTVET sub sector trained a total of 20
technical teachers in order to develop their skills
while 25 technical teachers from UGAPRIV
institutions embarked on a one year Kyambogo
University Program in the field of Technical
Teacher training.
• 242 instructors were trained from the Northern,
Eastern, Western and Central regions covering 24
districts.
• Emerging Issues:
– Do we have a comprehensive capacity building plan?
– How many more teachers do we need?

8. Establishment Of The Requisite Infrastructure
• 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.
• Government has also constructed health and
departmental training institutions which are at different
levels of completion: Hoima School of Nursing, Jinja school
of Nursing, Butabika Psychiatric School, Gulu School of
clinical Officers, Fort Portal School of Clinical Officers, Lira
School of Nursing and Mulago Paramedical School.
• Ongoing civil works at the nine (9) OPEC and three (3) IDB-funded
sites and 4.5m USD has been provided by the
Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the
construction of a Vocational Institute at Nakawa.
• Emerging Issues:
– We must plan: we don’t need a technical institute/school etc
in each district!!!

9. MoES HE Strategy
• The current Education system is training so many supervisors
(Degree holders) rather than Middle Managers and Technicians
who are supposed to work under the supervisors. Thus the
plan is:
– Establishing more technical institutions; it would increase access to
Technical Education thereby increasing the number of technicians at
the lower hierarchy of the pyramid of employment in Uganda
today.
– Focus on increasing access to BTVET and hence on the right track of
implementing Skilling Uganda
– Establishing more Technical Institutions especially covering those
sub counties without any form of Government BTVET institution and
the centres of excellence is in the bigger picture of marketing BTVET
and eliminating the stigmatic tendencies related to it.
• Emerging Issues:
– We need to focus on improving access and quality which may not
require setting up new institutions but strengthening existing ones
– Ratio: degree: diploma: certicificate 1: 10: 20 in labour intense
sectors

10. MoES Plans to ensure that:
• All formal BTVET programmes are restructured into
short courses concentrated on practical work. All
programmes will be based on the occupational
standards developed by the employers under UQF.
This will in a way reduce the cost of formal BTVET
training.
• Emerging Issues:
– How will upward mobility be addressed?
– How will the graduates compare with those in the
region?
– What is the practice elsewhere?

11. Roles of Different Players
• Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB)
• Uganda Business & Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB)
• Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board
(UNMEB)
• Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board (UAHEB)
• Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT)
• National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC)
• National Council for Higher Education (NCHE)
• Tertiary institutions and other educational institutions
• Emerging issues:
– Need for clear mandates as a result of ambiguity in the laws
– Uncoordinated decisions
– How can the roles and mandates of the above organs be
harmonized?

12. Recommendations
• Salary Review Commission with the Education and Sports
Sector
• Importance of the BTVET and other sectors should be
reflected in the NDP and budgetary allocations including
staff welfare and facilities
– E.g. how does an MSc holder in a technical college compare
with an MSc holder in a University in terms of salary?
• Qualifications framework should be linked to the national
manpower plan
• Plan for retooling teachers in CBET
• Cost Benefit Analysis in setting up new institutions as
opposed to rehabilitating & expanding existing ones

13. PART 2
• Higher Education (HE)
– Post secondary education
• Qualifications:
– Post secondary certificates
– Diplomas
– Degrees
• Other HE activities:
– Research
– Innovation
– Engagement
– Dissemination

14. Situation Analysis of Higher Education
• Government white paper on Education Policy
Reform 1992
– This is a very important and useful document
– It covered what needed to be done in the sector
• A few quotations in the white paper:
– Train high level technical, managerial and professional
personnel for all sectors of national life
– Generate advanced knowledge and innovation through
research and adopt them to local and Ugandan situations
– Provision of public service through extension work and
consultancy
– Develop intellectual capacity of students to understand
their local and national environment, etc, etc.

15. So what happened after the white paper
• World bank policies took priority
– Emphasis was placed on primary and secondary edn
• Shift in National priorities with more emphasis
on roads, energy, security
• No manpower/ Personnel power plan
• National Development Plan (NDP) not always
followed during budgeting; other priorities other
than those in NDP take precedence
• Tertiary institutions (diploma institutions)
converted into Universities e.g. Kyambogo,
Busitema and Mutesa I Royal universities

16. So what happened after the white paper?
• Both private and public universities increased to
over 40 coupled with:
– Insufficient qualified staff,
– Insufficient infrastructure, facilities and laboratories
– Low book: student ratio
– Low salaries
– Low research funds
– INSUFFICIENT FUDNING ESP
• High birth rate causing a strain on Edn sector
• Less employable graduates in some disciplines
has been the norm as evidenced in the IUCEA
report of 2014

17. Recommendations
• We need a Manpower plan/ personnel power plan
• We need to link the Manpower plan to the NDP
• Proper planning for education right from primary to
University
– Using the education white paper of 1992 review the
whole education system to bring it to date
– Set quality standards and enforce them
– Clearly define main mandates of the different institutions
• Need for a Salary Review Commission
– How can a Minister/ Permanent Secretary earn less than
an ED of an authority/ Commission within the same
ministry
• Increase funding to Education Sector
• Control population growth

18. Recommendations Cont’d
• Any idea to come up with a Ministry responsible for
Higher Education should be well sought out:
– I think a Ministry of Education Science, Industries and
Innovation would be appropriate.
– Let us learn from others that have succeeded like South
Korea, Singapore, Mauritius
• Human Development requires that for all citizens to
develop , they have to ensure:
– Quality Education Services
– Quality Health Services
– Employment Opportunities
• EDUCATION SHOULD BE PRIORITISED: What
percentage of the GDP goes to Education?
• Is Education a Public or Private Good? We must
answer this question.

19. Part 3
• Students Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion
(STEP)

20. Objectives of STEP
• To equip University students who are in their
final year with basic business skills
• Empower students to set up their own
businesses instead of searching for formal
employment
• Emerging Issues:
– Assumes that the students have discipline skills
– Assumes that everybody can start a business
– Successful business men/woman are the minority in
society
– Majority of the educated normally are employees not
employers

21. Then the Question is
• What process do you go through to identify
those to empower to set up their own business?
• How do you address the discipline specific skills
gaps?

22. Case Studies
• Graduate of Ethics and Development Studies
– Agro Business and Tourism Business
• 2nd year student of Environment Studies
– Stationery and T-Shirt Business
• Money lending business
• Emerging Issues
– Youth need to focus on High Impact Innovative
Business Incubation
– We need to create a Ugandan version of Silicon Valley
– Without High Impact Business Innovations, we cant
development as a country

23. Recommendations
• We need to focus on the quality of the graduates
coming out of the education system
– Do they have the required skills and competencies?
– Do they have soft skills including entrepreneurship skills?
• Need for venture capital fund
• Government should promote an innovation culture
in all institutions
• We need science and technology parks
• We need to promote local entrepreneurs as role
models
• We need to provide documentaries of successful
youth world wide to inspire the locals

24. The Discussion Continues
• I thank You.