Janet asks examination bodies to prepare for merger

The Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, has asked key examination bodies in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector to prepare for a merger as part of the ongoing reforms under the TVET Bill 2024.

While releasing the 2024 Uganda Business and Technical Examinations results at State House Nakasero yesterday, she emphasized the need for the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board (UNMEB), Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board (UAHEB), Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB), and the Directorate of Industrial Training (D.I.T.) to work together toward this transition.

“I want to address myself to the TVET sector, especially the TVET institutions as well as the examination and assessment bodies such as UBTEB, D.I.T., UNMEB, and UAHEB. As we end the year 2024, the TVET Bill 2024 is advancing well, and with it comes key TVET reforms in roles to do with TVET curriculum development, assessments, examinations, and regulation,” she said.

She outlined the plan for UNMEB and UAHEB to merge into a single entity responsible for managing curriculum, assessments, and examinations in nursing, midwifery, and allied health training. Similarly, UBTEB and D.I.T. will come together to handle curriculum, assessment, and examinations in broader TVET fields.

“I want to see the current TVET examinations and assessment bodies work together towards the transition envisaged by the reforms, whereby UNMEB and UAHEB come under one entity. In a similar manner, UBTEB and D.I.T. come together to be responsible for curriculum, assessment, and examinations in TVET,” Janet Museveni added.

She tasked the governing councils of these bodies, together with their management and technical teams, to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Sports in creating clear roadmaps for a smooth transition.

“I now task your respective governing councils, with the support of the management teams as well as the technical teams at the Ministry of Education and Sports, to collaborate and coordinate in coming up with clear roadmaps and milestones that will ensure smooth transitioning – and this starts with how the planning and budgeting for the financial year 2025/2026 is going to be done,” she concluded.

82 per cent sass UBTEB exams

At least 82 per cent of the students who sat for the July/August 2024 Uganda Business and Technical Examinations have passed.

The Executive Secretary of UBTEB, Mr Onesmus Oyesigye, said that a total of 1,926 candidates sat for the 2024 July/August examinations, including 1,805 diploma and 122 certificate candidates. Of these, 1,393 were males and 533 females.

According to the results, a total of 1,562 candidates passed the examination and are now eligible to join the workforce or continue with further education.

However, 340 candidates failed and will be given a chance to redo the examination during the next cycle.

“The successful candidates were further classified by competence grades in which 285 candidates (15%) scored Class I (Distinction), 1,107 candidates (57 per cent) scored Class II (Credit), and 170 candidates (9 per cent) scored Class III (Pass) grades,” Mr Oyesigye said.

He added, “The overall completion rate for female candidates was better at 84% compared to males at 80%. This is an indication that female trainees who opt for TVET programmes have passion for them and pursue their studies well.”

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of UBTEB, Eng. Silver Mugisha, called for integrating attitude assessment in the examination process for youth.

“The aspect of assessing attitude will enable the Board to produce entrepreneurial, innovative, resilient, and competitive TVET graduates. It will also improve strong work ethics, integrity, and a frugal business mindset. The right skills must be complemented by the right attitudes required to fit in the changing global labour market,” Mr Mugisha said.

The First Lady also tasked the Permanent Secretary to explore the feasibility of providing basic start-up kits to TVET graduates, emphasizing their importance in promoting self-employment.

“Much as it is good to hear that over 80 per cent of TVET graduates become employed within 2 to 3 years of graduation, we need to think about how to have all of them getting into gainful employment – if need be, self-employment where start-up kits come in handy,” Janet said.