KAMPALA – Uganda Business and Technical Examinations – UBTEB is set to mark the climax week for celebrating 10 years of monumental strides since inception in 2011. The Board on 23rd March 2022 will conduct a Technical and Vocational Education and Training – TVET Assessment Conference and ground break Assessment Centre Construction Project as part of 10 years of existence.
Speaking to the press at Uganda Media Centre on Monday, Onesmus Oyesigye, the Board Executive Secretary revealed that the Conference which will be at Hotel Africana under the theme “Competence-Based Assessment for competitive labourforce and economic development”, and the groundbreaking ceremony will be at Kyambogo Hill will be officiated by President Yoweri Museveni.
UBTEB was established by the Government of Uganda through the BTVET Act 2008 and operationalized by the Statutory Instrument 2009 No.9. It is mandated to streamline, regulate, coordinate and conduct credible national; examinations and awards certificates and Diplomas in Business, technical, vocational and specialized professions in Uganda.
In the 10 years of existence, Mr. Oyesigye says UBTEB has registered major milestones in TVET Assessment such as increment in enrollment for TVET Assessment from 9198 candidates in 2011 to 79,901 into 2021; increased female enrolment in TVET programmes, 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 females 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,” MR. ES said.
He said that the modularization of training and assessment emphasized in the TVET NDP III to be implemented with effect from 2022, the Board is piloting all programs at the Uganda Community Polytechnic Certificate level and 13 programmes for National Certificate Technical.
“The Board is committed to a phased approach of modularized assessment as it builds the capacity of both instructors and assessors from the TVET providers including the industry. Over the 10 years, most of the leading corporations in manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, meteorology, banking and other service sectors, construction, technology biased organizations have a bigger number of UBTEB graduates.”
The ES said that over the years, the Board has continued to stick to the core values of integrity, professionalism and this has enabled us to conduct successfully all examinations series without any examinations’ leakages.
The new structure will house laboratories and workshops that will be used in the preparations for practical examinations. These facilities will also be accessed by training institutions.
As part of celebrations, UBTEB also intends to have an exhibition of products of skilling from the trainees whom they assess and Corporate Social Responsibility activity conducted in Bugiri District. The Corporate Social Responsibility project shall be done by students as part of the real-life projects from TVET institutions in that region.
Oyesigye revealed that they shall renovate one primary school and issue uniforms designed by trainees of skilling.
“These will be done hand in hand with local institutions and partners as a way of giving back to the community.”
According to him, the Board’s journey has been a journey of progressive impact with a few areas for improvement like the cost of materials for hands-on assessment on the side TVET institutions because of competence-based curricula, assessment of competences is at 70% and theory knowledge take only 30%.
“With our tripartite assessment, we have built stronger synergies with the industry and other prospective employers to make sure that they get involved in the assessment of TVET candidates. This has over the years guaranteed the quality of our graduates.”
