The government, through the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB), has resolved to streamline the assessment and accreditation cycle for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) candidates in both formal and informal training institutions, in a bid to create a more structured and efficient assessment system.
According to Mr Onesmus Oyesigye, the Executive Secretary of UVTAB, the current system has been inconvenient for the board, as institutions and individual trainers have been presenting candidates for assessment at any time throughout the year.
‘Assessment has been continuous. As soon as they finish, they come here for assessment. Every day, there are trainees walking in here, and they are not few,’ Mr Oyesigye said during a media engagement at the UVTAB offices in Kampala on October 16.
He added, ‘We have discussed at the board level to ensure that assessment is regulated. The board has guided that we develop an assessment cycle that can be followed by all trainers. Even visitors who come to your home need to be regulated, it is only in a restaurant where people just walk in at any given time.’
Mr Oyesigye explained that UVTAB staff have been deployed to the field almost every month to conduct assessments, an arrangement he described as unsustainable.
The board is now engaging training institutions and other stakeholders to agree on a harmonized assessment calendar.
‘The training normally takes three months. We shall discuss with those involved in that type of training, but most probably, we are going to assess students four times a year, in March, June, September, and December, so that the trainings are synchronized,’ he said.
UVTAB is responsible for assessing and certifying competencies acquired through both formal and informal TVET programmes.
Mr Oyesigye further revealed that once the TVET Council completes the accreditation of all training providers as required under the TVET Act, 2025, informal training institutions will be required to present their candidates for assessment and accreditation through formally accredited providers.
‘Walking in here and presenting candidates for assessment is going to cease. The process is going to be orderly. The formal training providers will carry out recognition of prior learning so that, by the time accredited providers present candidates, they are ready to be assessed at a specific level of the TVET Professional Framework that will soon be launched,’ he said.
On staffing, Mr Oyesigye noted that the Ministry of Public Service had approved UVTAB’s new structure and that more staff will be recruited to improve service delivery.
He clarified that the merger of the Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB) and the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) to form UVTAB did not significantly affect staffing levels, as most personnel from the previous institutions were retained under the new assessment body.
Release of May-June 2025 Assessment Results
Meanwhile, UVTAB will today, October 17, release the first set of assessment results since the merger. The examinations were conducted between May 2 and June 27, 2025.
According to Mr Oyesigye, a total of 30,169 candidates registered for the May-June 2025 end-of-programme assessments from 499 centres across the country, 61 percent from informal providers and 39 percent from formal institutions.
Of these, 17,423 were female, while 13,196 were male.
The assessment covered various TVET programmes, including Technology Education and Training, Business Education and Training, Home Science Education and Training, Sports Education and Training, and Informally Acquired Skills.
The release ceremony is expected to be presided over by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, at the UVTAB National Skills Assessment Centre on Kyambogo Hill in Kampala.