Government urged to prioritise skilling programmes

Prioritised. A youth showcases some of his products. Skills development, according to Amos Lugoloobi must be prioritised to achieve meaningful results. COURTESY PHOTO  

In Summary

• Skilling Uganda, he said, must revisit the quality of delivery and choice of skills to be prioritised, noting that government must introduce a spirit of entrepreneurship so that in case skilled graduates are not taken on, they are able to start their own enterprises.

By Christine Kasemiire

Government must invest in enterprise development and skilling for Ugandans to achieve meaningful change, according to the chairman of the Parliamentary Budget Committee and Ntenjeru North MP Amos Lugoloobi.

Speaking during a one-week Basic Enterprise Startup Tools training in Kayunga District, Mr Lugoloobi said government must combine mindset change, marketing and business expansion skills to spur innovation.

However, he noted, less commitment in terms of resources has been offered given that principal players such as Enterprise Uganda, among others, are lowly funded yet they are tasked with turning Uganda into an innovative and enterprising country.

“One of the reasons our people are poor is because they have a negative mindset. Trainings must seek to cause change,” Mr Lugoloobi said, noting that there are so many opportunities and resources, which if properly exploited can deliver Uganda out of the current unemployment dilemma.

Government recently launched the Business, Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategic Plan 2011 – 2020 to equip Ugandans with necessary skills but it is yet to deliver intended results.
At the same training, Mr Charles Ocici, the Enterprise Uganda executive director, said skilling Uganda projects are failing to deliver intended results because many of them are focusing on paper skills, noting that the Business, Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategic plan must assess various skills to identify those that are over flooded and those that are still lacking.

“If the graduates are not absorbed and cannot start their own enterprises, it means you are simply producing paper graduates,” Ocici said.

Skilling Uganda, he said, must revisit the quality of delivery and choice of skills to be prioritised, noting that government must introduce a spirit of entrepreneurship so that in case skilled graduates are not taken on, they are able to start their own enterprises.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com