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State House industrial hubs to offer certificates to local artisans
Eng Raymond Kamugisha, (right), interacts with some of the officials after the meeting on September 26. PHOTO/FRED MUZAALE
What you need to know:
- Uganda has 19 Industrial hubs across the country, where learners acquire skills in the fields of tailoring, welding, carpentry and joinery, confectionary for a period of six months as a way of transforming.
Artisans who gain skills on the job are to be awarded certificates at the various State House Zonal Industrial hubs, a State House official has said.
“Besides the six -month training courses being offered to the students in all the industrial hubs, artisans like carpenters, electricians, welders, cobras and others in our communities, who got skills through work experiences, are going to be enrolled in these industrial hubs and skilled for a period of one week and thereafter awarded directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) certificates,” Eng. Raymond Kamugisha ,the director Presidential Projects and Industrial Hubs said on September 26.
He said the move will enable people who have skills but never got a chance to be assessed to undergo assessment and be awarded DIT certificates, which can be equivalent to Senior Four qualification.
“In case of Senior Four dropouts, these artisans can even use this certificate when they want to stand for elective positions that require them to have an Advanced Level certificate,” Eng. Kamugisha said.
Eng. Kamugisha was speaking during a Stakeholder’s meeting at Mengo zonal Industrial hub in Nazigo Town Council, Kayunga District.
The meeting was attended by district chairpersons, district National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairpersons, Chief Administrative Officers, district youth Chairpersons and district commercial and production officers from the districts of Kayunga, Buikwe, Mukono, Buvuma, Luweero, Wakiso, Mpigi, Nakasongola, Gomba, Nakaseke, and Butambala. Each of the districts is given 20 slots.
Uganda has 19 Industrial hubs across the country, where learners acquire skills in the fields of tailoring, welding, carpentry and joinery, confectionary for a period of six months as a way of transforming. The initiative aims at enabling unemployed youth to train to become job makers instead of job seekers.
Eng. Kamugisha also noted that all artisans who lack the required modern tools would be allowed to use the tools at the industrial hubs ,but at a negligible cost.
“We are also going to start tracing the graduates from the industrial hubs. We shall do this by getting their bio data and that of their parents. If we find out that they need further training we shall offer it because the government has invested a lot of money here (hubs)” Eng. Kamugisha said.
He also said that given limited land, there is a need to teach all learners at the hubs urban –farming practices to ensure food security, noting that very few people own four acres of land.
He warned them against enrolling learners who are below 18 years of age saying the labour laws of the land do not permit it and that such juveniles should be at school.
Upon graduation, Eng. Kamugisha said they are going to offer seed capital to all the graduates.
Mr Moses Mabala, the Wakiso District Commercial Officer asked State House to consider including business management and financial literacy lessons to learners at the hubs.
This, he said, would help them to make informed business decisions and also learn how to save their money.
He also said the 20 slots given to Wakiso District, a district he said is very big, are very few, saying such big districts should be given more slots.
Mr Moses Karangwa, the Kayunga District NRM chairman said priority while enrolling learners should be given to NRM supporters.
