UBTEB holds meeting with Chairpersons and members of Sector Skills Councils
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S REMARKS AT THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING WITH SECTOR SKILLS COUNCILS ON 7TH OCTOBER, 2019 AT UBTEB SECRETARIAT
On behalf of the UBTEB Board, Management and staff, I am pleased to welcome you all to UBTEB and thank you for accepting our invitation. Allow me to begin by sharing with you our history as the Board. UBTEB was established in accordance with the BTVET Act 2008 and was operationalised by the Statutory Instrument 2009 No.9. Our mandate is to streamline, regulate, coordinate and conduct credible national examinations and award Certificates and Diplomas in the Business, Technical and Vocational/ specialized education or training in Uganda. Our vision is A Centre of Excellence for Competence Based Assessment, Examinations and Awards.
Dear members, I am happy to note that our meeting today is going to mark the beginning of our journey of working together to realise the ideals of skilling Uganda strategy. In line with the TVET Policy Section 7.2.5, the implementation framework stipulates that;
Curriculum will be developed in consultation with the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), world of work (industry) which is represented by you, Sector Skills Councils and the TVET institutions and providers.
Assessment will be conducted by Assessment Bodies in consultation with the industry.
All assessment bodies (national and international) will seek approval of the TVET Council on the programs to assess and awards to offer in line with the NVQF and set standards for ease of equating qualifications.
In view of the above, UBTEB recognises the key role to be played by the Sector Skills Councils in implementing the TVET policy and other reforms aimed at creating a critical mass of skilled Ugandans who can compete globally and make significant contribution towards social-economic transformation. And to us, this should be done sustainably with or without foreign funders.
As UBTEB we believe in strong linkages to the world of world and therefore we look forward to Sector Skills Councils to playing a critical role in linking UBTEB further to the key private sector players to boost the assessment function. As UBTEB carries out the assessment function, Sector Skills Councils shall help to link us to the practitioners as well as training our assessors on industry-based practices. The World Bank has advised that a working group composed of DIT and UBTEB together with Sector Skills Councils should be formed to requisition and manage the funds earmarked for capacity building for both DIT and UBTEB.
UBTEB plans to fully embrace the principles of CBET and carry out assessment of hands-on skills and applied knowledge as envisaged in the TVET Policy. In the same spirit, UBTEB is ready to embrace the role of TVET Council and Sector skills council to streamline the occupation standards, training standards. I strongly believe that together we can develop assessment and certification standards. This function has not been achieved despite the circular issued out by the MOES in November 2017 on accreditation and assessment of TVET programmes at certificate and Diploma level.
UBTEB is a dynamic body and therefore shall be open to continuous engagements with Sector Skills Councils for purposes of continuous improvement to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in conduct of assessment and examinations. The Board is willing and looks forward for the invaluable contributions from the Sector Skills councils towards the development and review of assessment standards that are in conformity with the industrial trends at local and global level.
As we interact today, we shall present to you the UBTEB model of assessment and a brief documentary highlighting what we do and together agree on future assessment system that is relevant to the current world of work standards and together agree on future assessment system that is relevant to the current world of work standards and to Uganda as a Country and which reflect international standards.
We are looking forward to working with you to build our assessment system which is resilient, self-improving, adaptive, responsive and sustainable so that it leads to more Uganda children learning more of what matters most for their future.
Thank you once again for accepting our invitation.