Skills development

The Memorandum of Understanding between KOICA and the Government of Uganda was signed in 2011 with an initial completion date of 2014. However, due to challenges in site preparation and construction works, the construction phase was completed in February 2018 and subsequent to Equipment installation, the project was handed over to the government of Uganda in November 2018.

Despite the government’s efforts to promote skills development, the social stigma attached to vocational training still exists. Currently, Uganda has the second youngest population in the world with over 78% below 30 years. The youth population comprises of the educated/skilled and the unskilled, living in the rural and urban areas⁵⁵. According to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, about 40,000 youth enter the workforce to compete for about 9,000 jobs annually. Youth unemployment and underemployment, therefore, pose a formidable challenge for the Government.

The Ministry of Education and Sports has also taken deliberate efforts to revitalize the BTVET system to address the labor market demands by implementing a well thought out TVET policy which adopts an employer led TVET model. Technical and vocational training have become priority focus areas in successive Uganda’s National Development Plans, to improve the skills and employability of the population. The Republic of Korea is happy to support these efforts through;

a) Contributing to the manpower development of Uganda by sharing the know-how of Korean technical and vocational education and training (TVET) models and development experience.

b) Providing capacity building of the Vocational Training Institute by upgrading the infrastructure of the institute.

c) Promoting the teaching skills and operation abilities of the institute by giving consultation on composing the curriculum of the courses while considering Ugandan market demand and supply.

55 Labour Market Transition of young people in Uganda report, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2016

71 This technical and vocational training institute is structured to grow into a center of excellence and draw from Korea’s experience in skilling and vocational training and become a benchmark for other similar projects in order to improve key skills in Electrical, Plumbing, Welding, Tailoring, and Auto-Mechanics, to stimulate Uganda’s industrial development.

**Note Students being trained at the Ntinda Vocational Training Institute (NTVTI).

At the Ntinda Training and Vocational Institute (NTVTI) the enrolment for the past two years was recorded at 347 students. The institute’s courses are for two years and students are issued a National Certificate for the various programmes attended. In addition, the institute has trained students in short-term courses of three months and graduated 116 students (35 students in 2018 and 81 students in 2019).

72 Table 3.6: Student enrolment at Ntinda Vocational and Training Institute (2018-2019)

S / N

COURS E

YEAR I (2018) YEAR II (2019) TOTAL GRAN

D TOTAL Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female

1 NCAM 82 1 83 24 0 24 106 1 107

2 NCES 59 8 67 18 5 23 77 13 90

3 NCFD 9 30 39 4 4 8 13 34 47

4 NCPL 47 6 53 16 2 18 63 8 71

5 NCWF 24 1 25 7 0 7 31 1 32

TOTAL 221 46 267 69 11 80 290 57 347

Source: NTVI Performance report, 2019

*NCAM - National Certificate in Automotive Mechanics,*NCES - National Certificate in Electrical Systems Installation and Maintenance, *NCFD- National Certificate in Fashion and Garment Design,*NCPL - National Certificate in Plumbing,*NCWF- National Certificate in Welding and Fabrication

Table 3.7: Graduated students in 2018⁵⁶

SHORT COURSES 2018

S/N COURSE One Batch (July - Sept)

Male Female Total

1 Moto Vehicle 10 0 10

2 Electronic Installation 7 0 7

3 Plumbing 6 1 7

4 Fashion & Design 0 10 10

5 Welding & Fabrication 1 0 1

TOTAL 24 11 35

Source: NTVI Performance report, 2019

56 These are the students who graduated after the official opening of the institute in 2018

73 Table 3.8: Number of student graduates in short courses in 2019 at NVTI

S

Source: NTVI Performance report, 2019

*MV-Motor Vehicle

*EI- Electrical Installation

*F&D-Fashion and Design

*W&F- Welding and Fabrication

Relatedly, the government of the Republic of Korea through KOICA is funding a USD 7 million (UGX 25 billion) “Capacity building for industry demand-based TVET in Uganda”. The project aims to improve youth's employability by preparing and implementing an industry-based TVET system and contribute to public mindset change toward TVET targeting six (5) technical institutes (Tis) and one vocational training institution targeting Arua TI – Ragem, Nyakatare TI – Kanungu, St Peter’s TI – Mubende, Iganga TI, Kiryandongo TI and Ntinda vocational training institute focusing on 5 trades of automobile mechanics, plumbing, electrical installations, wielding and fabrication, and fashion and garment design.

The project is anticipated to run for 7 years (2020 – 2027) with a special focus on competency-based training and encouraging start-ups competency-based on industry skills demand.

Similarly, the project has the following outputs.

1) Develop and implement short-term TVET programs based on industry demand for 5 trades.

2) Develop and implement in-service training programs for trainers and instructors.

3) Establish a cooperative system between TVET and industry.

4) Capacity building for managing equipment & materials and supporting employment &

start-ups in TVET institutions.

5) Provide consultation of improving qualification and testing system in the TVET sector.

6) Support skills competitions in 6 institutions - World Skills Uganda competitions and World Skills International competitions.

74 3.3.2 Capacity development (Scholarships and fellowships)

A strong healthcare system is coupled by a well-trained health workforce. In a bid to enhance healthcare system and governance, the Korean government in partnership with Ministry of Health, Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, and National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL) has trained a number of health workers under Dr. Lee Jong-Wook fellowship programme. The fellowship programme was established and implemented by KOFIH since 2007 across countries to nurture healthcare professionals in developing countries in memory of the late Lee Jong-Wook, a Korean Doctor. Dr. Lee Jong-Wook served as a Secretary General of World Health Organization who believed in a disease free world and was a man of action. Since 2007, KOFIH implemented the program and has brought together over 1,000 healthcare experts from 29 countries⁵⁷. In Uganda, a total of 75 health workers have been trained as reflected below.

Table 3.9: Total number of health workers trained under Dr. Lee Jong-Wook Fellowship

Source: KOFIH fellowship data, 2021

57 Korea Biomedical review, 2019

Category 2011 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total

75 KOICA Fellowship Program, CIAT

The Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow (CIAT) is a cooperation program where policymakers, civil servants, and experts from developing countries like Uganda are invited to Korea for technical training and knowledge sharing. Through CIAT, KOICA has established partnerships with a multitude of Uganda government ministries and departments, research institutes, universities to offer quality training programs. Pertinent to this, every alumnus of the CIAT program on arrival by default joins the alumni club, KOICA club of Uganda (KOCU). The KOICA fellowship program is comprised of two divisions.

1. The KOICA scholarship program and 2. Invitational trainings.

The KOICA scholarship program is the master’s degree course designed to offer future leaders in partner countries unique opportunities to learn Korea’s development experiences and help develop their professional and academic skills. The master’s degree courses normally last a period of seventeen months (17), annually KOICA opens twenty-one (21) master’s degree programs. Also, recently KOICA made available the Doctoral degree program to train professional personnel of partner countries and to promote long term outcomes of the scholarship program.

KOICA invitational trainings program are short term technical capacity improvement trainings that last between two weeks to three months, the capacity building trainings target technical personnel in the education, health and rural development/agriculture sectors.

The aim of CIAT is mainly to contribute to the socio-economic development in developing countries by sharing Korea's development experiences and know-how accumulated in the process of its remarkable economic development and supporting their capacity development efforts. To that end, CIAT has benefited 815 public servants at different levels of capacity improvements⁵⁸.

58 KOICA Alumni report, December, 2019

76 Table 3.10: Categories of Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow

program By

Participating Country

Country-specific Program Policy and technical capacity building programs for a target country

Multi-country Program Policy and technical capacity building programs for two or more partner countries By Certificate Scholarship Program Programs that award a Master's degree to

participants upon completion of training Non-degree Program

(Regular Program)

All country-specific and multi-country programs that do not award degrees

By Channel Country-requested Program Programs provided at the request of partner countries

Ministry-proposed Program Programs provided at the official proposal of the Korean government ministries (or local governments)

Joint Program Programs provided at the proposal of partner organizations or based upon mutual

consultations between KOICA and partner organizations

KOICA-initiated Program Programs designed and implemented directly by KOICA

By Location Invitational

Training/Training in Korea

Training in which participants are invited to Korea for training

Local Training/Training in Partner Country

Training that takes place in partner countries Training in a Third-country Training that is provided in a third country,

not both in Korea and partner countries Cross-country Training Training that takes place in two or more

locations

By Period One-year Program Training that is completed within a period of a year

Multi-year Program Training that lasts more than a year By Operation Commissioned

Program/Entrusted Program

Training whose operation is entrusted by KOICA to other institutions

KOICA-implemented Program

Training directly provided by KOICA Source: KOICA project report, 2020

During the fight against COVID-19, KOICA through its club of Uganda KOCU donated food items and sanitary suppliers to the vulnerable households in Wakiso district. These items include;

Maize flour, beans, salt, and soap. These were mainly given to the elderly, orphans, disabled children, and other vulnerable households.

77 3.3.2.1 Volunteer programs

The Korean government in 1990 established the Korea Overseas Volunteer (KOV) programme with the aim of dispatching Korean nationals to partner countries to share their expertise, knowledge, and experience in order to make practical contributions towards poverty reduction and sustainable development. To that effect, over 18,000 volunteers have been dispatched to different countries including Uganda. Pertinent to this, to enhance the effectiveness of the contributions provided, in 2009, the Korean government unified the programs and branded it the “World Friends of Korea” (WFK).

The WFK works hand in hand with government Ministries and Agencies. For instance, in Uganda volunteers were dispatched through the Ministry of Health, Tourism, Agriculture, and Education and sports among others. Furthermore, these volunteers were sent to Lira secondary school, Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Makerere University, Mbale secondary school, VH public school, and Iganga Technical institute.

These volunteers are assigned different duties according to their expertise and also participate in a number of activities such as mobile KOICA and community outreaches.

Mobile KOICA; undertakes a range of activities that are selected based on existing gaps in an identified community. These are executed through mobile clinics where a team of volunteers for example headed by a medical team will run a day’s clinic for free in a given community. This mainly consists of an examination of various illnesses such as Malaria, HIV/AIDs, dental and eye check-ups among others.

78 Reformation or community activities; involve the participation of both communities and volunteer teams in improving environments and their surroundings for instance, through the painting of buildings, furnishing of classrooms, provision of medicine and medicinal supplies to school clinics among others.

Table 3.11: Volunteer Placement by sector in Uganda

District Sector Volunteer category Number of

Volunteers

Mpigi Education Computer Education

(Design)

1

others Social Welfare 1

Mbale Health Nurse 1

Others Social Welfare 1

Physical education Taekwondo 1

Iganga Industrial technology Fiber clothing expert 1

Others Cook 1

Education Korean Education 1

Wakiso (Nsangi) Education Art Education 1 Kampala region Education Korean education 2

Education Librarian 1

Education Computer education 1

Others Social welfare 1

Education Art education 1

Health Medical Doctor 1

Total 16

Source: KOICA statistic stat, 2019

79 3.4 Infrastructure Development