Donors promise Shs219b boost to vocational training in schools

Donors promise  Shs219b  boost to  vocational training in schools
AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA
KAMPALA. Various donors have indicated willingness to fund the implementation of the newly introduced Skilling Uganda programme in the next financial year, Minister Jessica Alupo has said 
According to Ms Alupo ,the Organisation of Petroleum  Exporting Countries pledged to contribute $22.95m , Islamic Development Bank ( $27.91m) ,Saudi Fund for International Development ($11.998m) ,Kuwait Fund ($11.9m) and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa ($5m).When converted into Ugandan shillings , all donors will have contributed  about Shs 219billion .
Ms Alupo  said with this huge boost ,her ministry will endavour to increase funding to the new technical  examination board, increase unit costs for capitation grants ,scale up  the non formal training programmes and provide instructional materials to Uganda Technical Colleges for students to do real life projects as part of their exam requirements .
“ With the kind of support we have received, we need to address the critical issues in order to firmly entrench our efforts to transform Uganda into a country with a critical mass of skilled Ugandans” she said in an interview last week.
This is one the hugely funded education programmes the ministry has run the recent past .Government plans to spend atleast Shs2trillion to implement this 10 -year Skilling Uganda programme and on average Shs 200billion will be injected in the programme annually.
Vocational education has potential to curb unemployment in the country but it has been one of the least funded programmes over the years .For those who view vocational education as an education pathway for failures, the minister said they will soon launch a nation-wide campaign to sensitise masses  about skills training programmes
“ We need this attitudinal change badly and very soon we shall start a campaign to massage the minds of parents and students to bring about attitudinal changes to value technical and vocational education .” she added
Under Skilling Uganda programmes, learning will be designed with short courses for senior four leavers, school drop-outs and graduates, leading to the award of qualifications equivalent to those in formal system of education. All these will be enrolled at various levels in the new skills development system of education.
This implies that any learner will be able to graduate with a diploma, bachelors or Masters by attaining a systematic stage of qualifications in skills attainment under the revised education plan. There will be a special examination body to assess whoever will be attending these short courses. Learners will not be assessed on what they can do and not what they can recall as it is nowadays.

 Such huge sums of donor money have come at a time when education ministry is in the spotlight over claims of gross misappropriation of funds and making policies that have failed to turn around the sector.

A recent judicial commission of inquiry report into the misuse of free education funds recommended that Mr Francis Lubanga and several commissioners be investigated over abuse of office and financial mismanagement and it is estimated that government loses Shs329b annually as a result of shoddy construction work.

Education is one of the major funded sectors and this fiscal year it received 17 percent of the entire national budget. However, there have been consistent reports of graft in the sector and shoddy work in the infrastructure projects leading huge loss of tax payer’s money.

The share of Uganda’s national budget to education has been on an increase since 1990 when it rose from 13.7 percent to 24.7 percent by 1998 (the first year after UPE   was started). But officials in the ministry say the money is still little compared to the emerging challenges for the sector. This financial year (2012/13), the ministry received 1.669 trillion, down from Shs1.3trillion in 2011/12 fiscal year- representing 17 percent of the total budget.