Current Quality of Staff and Required Standards of Status: Perspectives on Vocational Education and Training in Uganda

1. Current Quality of Staff and Required Standards of Status: Perspectives on Vocational Education and Training in Uganda Presenters: Elizabeth Opit bethopit@gmail.com Aurelia Atukwase aureatukwase@gmail.com Mzumbe International Conference VET BEYOND EUROPEAN CONCEPTIONS: APPROACHES AND CHALLENGES FOR EAST AFRICAN VET www.kyu.ac.ug

2. Presentation Outline • Definition of VET • Main objective of VET in Uganda • Formal institutions that offer VET in Uganda • Formal institutions that train VET teachers in Uganda • Current quality of VET staff in Uganda as compared to the required standards • Conclusion • Recommendations

3. Definition of VET • VET is viewed as a process of forming skills in an individual such that he/she may find their place in the world of work in relation to what kinds of skills are demanded by the labour market (Lutalo-Bosa, 2007). • The Conflict and Education Research Group (CERG) (2007) defined VET as a learning system that prepares people for specific trades and careers at various levels. • These two definitions imply that VET: is purpose driven,is offered at different levels within the formal education system and requires teachers/instructors to teach its students.

4. Main objective of VET in Uganda In Uganda the BTVET Act of 2008 provides that the primary objective of VET is to provide relevant and quality knowledge, values and skills for purposes of academic progression andemployment in the labour market to a large number of persons in an affordable way (MoES.2008).

5. VET Institutions in Uganda • Community Polytechnics- 16 (2,880) • Farm Schools, Technical Schools-30 (5,220) • Technical Institutes- 34 (8,400) • Vocational Training Institutes -4 (1,600) • Technical Colleges -5 (1,080) • Uganda Colleges of Commerce -5 (1,600) • Health Training Institutions -32 (3,604) • other Specialized Training Institutions that include Agriculture (3), Forestry (1), Fisheries (1), Wildlife (1), Meteorology (1) and Survey (1) (1800)

6. Levels of VET Qualifications • Primary school leavers can enroll for three-year full-time courses, leading to the award of a Uganda Junior Technical Certificate. • Students who have completed O’ level can also obtain a craft certificate (Part I and II) from technical institutes on completion of three-year full-time courses. • Students who have completed A’ level can either obtain an ordinary diploma from a national technical college on completion of two years or obtain a bachelor of engineering from a university on completion of three to four years.

7. Formal institutions that train VET teachers in Uganda • In Uganda has six VET Teacher Training institutions • Kyambogo University is mandated by the government of Uganda to take charge of the development of the curricular for the VET TTIs • Kyambogo University is also charged with monitoring the implementation of the teacher training curricular by the different VET TT colleges. • Teacher training qualifications range from a certificate in teacher vocational education to a Bachelors degree in teacher vocational education

8. What is the problem? Despite Uganda’s measures to have VET students taught by qualified professional teachers, employers in Uganda have often complained about the prevalence of inappropriately trained graduates and most of them have to re-train VET graduates they employ (Okinyal, 2006; Okinyal, 2012; Okello 2012, Kabanda 2013; Natukunda, 2013). • The question then is: why are most VET graduates in Uganda “half backed” despite being taught by professionally trained teachers? • Does the current quality of VET staff in Uganda’s vocational institutions meet the standards required for instructors to produce the relevant manpower in the country?

9. - Only teachers trained with vocational pedagogical orientation should teach in Vocational institutes. Such training is expected to equip teachers with the expertise required to produce quality graduates (Chappell & Johnston, 2003). • - staff with higher VET qualifications are required to offer high level VET programs and to influence gov’t policies and funding on VET. • - VET teachers are expected to teach practically through activity-based learning and experiential learning (Mjelde, 2006). • Even untrained VET staff work as instructors in vocational teacher training colleges. Okello (2012) found that only 40% of the VET staff in technical institutes in Uganda were trained teachers • There is general lack of staff with high VET qualifications (MoES, 2011; Okello, 2012; Okinyal, 2006). • Most VET teachers in Uganda teach theoretically (Balungi, 2013; Kalanda, 2013; Kyarizi 2012; Natukunda, 2013; Otaala, Maani & Bakaira, 2013). Current Quality of Staff Vs Required Standards of Status

10. Current Quality of Staff Vs Required Standards of Status cont’d • -VET teachers are expected to possess ICTs knowledge and skills to enhance their delivery of subject matter (Mupinga, Comes & Ding, 2010). • -The salary scale for a teacher should take into account factors such as a rise in the cost of living (UNESCO, 1966). • Majority of VET teachers in Uganda do not have adequate knowledge about the use of computers, internet and other ICTs (Guma, Faruque, & Khushi, 2013). • In Uganda today, because of the low salary scales, properly qualified staff cannot be recruited and the existing staff members have been lost (MoES Official, 2013

11. CONCLUSION • In conclusion analysis of the available literature reveals that the current quality of VET staff in Uganda lack the required standards of status. • This is due to various factors like; lack or inadequacy of instructional materials, poor funding of the VET sector by the government, low salary scales of the VET staff, the examination oriented education system that encourages theoretical learning, use of outdated curriculum and lack of professional development courses for the VET staff. • Therefore there is need to come up with relevant measures for overcoming the factors that hinder VET trainers from performing their roles effectively. It is on this basis that the following recommendations have been made.

12. RECOMMENDATIONS • MoES should liaise with the administrators in VET sites to implement professional development courses. • In effort to downplay the teacher-centered methodology prevalently used by trainers in VET institutions in Uganda, MoES should introduce Vocational Pedagogy and Vocational Didactics as new concepts in the field of teacher education (Mjelde, 2009). • To overcome the problem of half backed, out dated, and limited high qualifications among VET trainers, the Government of Uganda should introduce high level qualifications in the VET sector • Remunerations to the instructors and administrators in VET institutions should be revised by the government to a level that can attract individuals to join the profession.

13. www.kyu.ac.ug