The Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) has shortened the assessment period for learners in technical and vocational training from six months or one year to just three months.
Mr Onesmus Oyesigye, the executive secretary of UVTAB, said the move allows learners to acquire specific skills more quickly, without going through lengthy assessment periods.
He added that assessments will be conducted by training providers accredited by the TVET Council.
‘Our assessment is now synchronised. We shall carry out assessments every three months. It will no longer be annual or after six months. Anyone trained will be assessed and certified through a TVET-accredited provider,’ Mr Oyesigye said.
He also said the government plans to ensure that no one is left behind, including prisoners who have acquired technical and vocational skills while serving their sentences.
‘No TVET provider will operate outside the national assessment or regulations of the TVET Council. For prisons, it is a matter of time. We have engaged with them and want to start assessing them because they are part of the TVET trainees. They will be included in the next assessment,’ he added.
The numbers
A total of 137,546 candidates from 743 assessment centres across Uganda are expected to sit for the November-December 2025 assessment series.
Of these, 80,654 are male and 56,892 are female, according to Mr Oyesigye, who spoke to journalists at UVTAB offices in Kampala on Saturday last week.
He said 333 special needs candidates will also be assessed, supported by about 150 transcribers, sign language interpreters, and guides.
‘We have registered the highest number of candidates ever. We are almost equalising with the number of students who sit for Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams,’ he said.
All examination officials, including area coordinators, will operate from four regional centres in Mbale, Kampala, Lira, and Bushenyi.
Ms Jalia Nasaza, the deputy executive secretary in charge of curriculum development, said Ugandans are increasingly embracing skilling programmes, noting that hands-on training is a key driver of job creation.
Mr Wilfred Nahamya, the UVTAB deputy executive secretary-in-charge of assessment, said the number of candidates registering for assessments has been steadily increasing.
‘During the May-June assessment series, we registered 66,000 candidates. This rose to about 80,000 in the August-September series, and now over 137,000 candidates are being assessed in the November-December 2025 series,’ he explained.
Mr Nahamya added that trainees under the 19 Presidential Skilling Hubs and the Presidential Initiative for Skilling a Girl and Boy Child are among the 137,546 candidates registered for this assessment series.
Pursuing vocational and technical studies is becoming increasingly important as the country seeks to address youth unemployment and skills gaps in the workforce.