KAMPALA – Roofings Uganda Limited has commended Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board – UBTEB for creating investor confidence and encouraging investors to come and invest in Uganda.
This was on Tuesday as the Board paid a courtesy visit to the company in Namanve to ensure linkages with the industry that consumes their products.
Leading the Board on behalf of Chairman Eng. Dr. Silver Mugisha, Prof. Mawuda Kamatenesi Mugisha, Vice Chancellor Bishop Stuart University first thanked the industry for not only providing internships to technical and vocational students but also employing them.
“They also give them skills for life and it is very important for us as UBTEB to expand our network and collaborations with such an industry,” said Mawuda who represents Uganda Private Universities Vice Chancellor Forum on the Board.
She noted that very soon all Vice Chancellors are going to visit the industry in order to train people who are far detached from skills that are needed for the industry.
“Our partnership will emphasize that we can train together with them with their input and be able to raise a graduate who can make a difference in Uganda of today and the future of tomorrow.”
Noting that 78% of Uganda’s population is 30 years and below, UBTEB says this calls for skilling of the young people in order to have a future that matters for tomorrow.
“Even if you have a degree, it does not stop you from having a skill which can help you to be self-employed and also employ others but also produce goods that are Uganda-made.”
“Roofings, we are very impressed with what you’re doing. We want to really appreciate you and I can assure you, we are going to market you but also remain partners forever.”
“If everyone was employing three people, there would be no unemployment in Uganda, and that is our focus as UBTEB and we believe we shall achieve,” Prof. noted.
Mr. Stuart Jason Mwesigwa, Corporate Affairs Manager at Roofings welcomed the Board and urged them to be part of the ambassadors of the industry and tell the world that even in Uganda, things are possible.
He noted that there is a need to upgrade skills to align the skills development with the actual investments in the country.
“We have been having a mismatch at some moment. I think the only thing here and elsewhere to get was a university graduate but when we come to practical, you’ll find many of them are a bit raw.”
“That’s why we are saying the skills development needs to be implemented even if somebody is PhD or master’s degree hold, they should add on a specific skill to be able to align, especially with us who are investing heavily into production processes that are actually capturing modern technology,” he added.
Mr. Mwesigwa noted that some institutions are still training things that were invented 50 years ago and yet technology has evolved so much.
Mwesigwa also advised the government to focus on iron ore which is the main engine for industrialization and industrialization
“There is no country which has developed without going through industrialization and industrialization, whether you are manufacturing food crops or fruits, whatever, you need the machine and these machines are made of steel. That’s why our iron ore, which is a very good thing that we have as a natural resource in big deposits, is mined, processed, and we use it to develop our country, our economy, not only Uganda, East Africa and Africa as a whole since now we are going into the free Africa continental trade area.”
UBTEB Executive Secretary, Onesmus Oyesigye noted that the situation is changing and even the rate of unemployment is going to change the situation since one must possess a skill to get a job.
“The mismatch is going away because the reform in the TVET is all about the tripartite operations that we work with the industry, training institutions because the requirement must come from the industry, we identify that there’s a gap in the mining industry, sit down and discuss what to do and create a solution.”
The Board also visited Lugogo Vocational Training Institute where they pledged to make their demonstration institute with well-equipped and facilitated to the required minimum standards to meet the requirements to achieve the standards of Training and Assessment as required by Uganda Vocational Educational Training (TVET) policy 2019.
