UBTEB demands uniform assessment of higher institutions
According to UBTEB, the powers granted by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to higher institutions of learning have resulted in gaps in program duplication and assessment.
The Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB) wants the government to require the board to review higher education institutions.
According to UBTEB, the powers granted by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to higher institutions of learning have resulted in gaps in program duplication and assessment.
According to UBTEB Executive Secretary Onesmus Oyesigye, several institutions that provide vocational courses do not want to be evaluated by the board. According to Oyesigye, this has resulted in certain training institutes opting out of the board’s evaluation.
On Friday, Oyesigye told the parliamentary committee on education and sports at the board’s headquarters in Ntinda that the vagueness in the legislation about assessment duties is a difficulty for the board.
According to Oyesigye, various rules and regulations need to be reviewed and harmonized in order to establish universal standards in vocational evaluations. Prof. Maud Kamatenesi, Vice-Chancellor of Bishop Stuart University, believes universities have the mandate and capacity to review and assess the vocational courses they provide, but it is up to the government to create consistent evaluation criteria.
Prof. Kamatenesi goes on to say that it is up to the government to put all of the policies and regulations together and establish criteria for grading vocational courses.
‘’It is critical that the government seizes this opportunity and works to resolve issues so that students are not harmed. “Regulators must communicate with one another, and the certification process must be simplified,” Kamatenesi said.
Streamlining the rules and regulations outlining the mandates of players in the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) is one of the problems that UBTEB wants the education committee to strive for.
Among these is the TVET law, which has yet to be tabled in parliament. This law establishes UBTEB as a national repository for all TVET certificate and diploma qualifications and awards.
The necessity of government assistance in the effective operation of the board was acknowledged by Nathan Itungo, a member of the parliamentary committee on education. He requested the board to explain how the committee might contribute fairly to the resolution of the concerns, particularly in the area of evaluation.
