Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) stakeholders have urged government to establish more industries capable of absorbing innovations developed by students, warning that many promising ideas are being lost due to limited industrial uptake.
The call was made during the launch of the National Skills Competitions at Kiryandongo Technical Institute, an event bringing together technical, vocational and business institutions from across the country under the TVET programme. The winner of the competition will represent Uganda at the World Skills Competition in Shanghai, China.
Officials said the competitions aim to promote practical skills development, innovation and entrepreneurship among trainees, while also improving perceptions of vocational education.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Ronald Mutebi, Manager of Qualifications at the TVET Council, said the core objective of TVET is to ensure that innovations created in institutions translate into real societal and economic impact.
“To you the instructors, please guide these students in your institutions. The TVET Council is saying that any idea innovated must have an impact on the innovator and the community,” Mutebi said. “It is not about having ideas with no purpose. We want to boost GDP by ensuring innovations contribute to the economy.”
He, however, expressed concern that many student innovations end at the training level due to lack of industrial support.
“For instance, while we toured the exhibition stalls, I saw an institution that developed an irrigation system. This is very good, but if such innovations stop in schools, then we have no agenda,” he said. “We need more industries that can take up these ideas. They are affordable because they are locally developed and address local challenges.”
Mutebi also encouraged trainees to adopt a professional mindset early. “Stop thinking like trainees and start thinking like experts. When you work with an expert mindset, you perfect your innovation even before completing training,” he said.
Eddy Turyatemba, Assistant Commissioner for Operations and Management at TVET, said Uganda’s participation in global skills competitions has grown significantly, noting that over 90 countries now take part globally.
He said the national competitions are designed not only to showcase skills but also to shift public perception of vocational education, which has long been associated with academic failure.
“Through these competitions, we want to celebrate skills excellence and show that TVET graduates can become professors, entrepreneurs and globally recognised professionals,” Turyatemba said.
He added that with more than 74 percent of Uganda’s population being youth—many of them unemployed—TVET offers a pathway to job creation and self-employment.
Local leaders also called for greater investment in skills development. Kiryandongo District Secretary for Finance, David Mugenyi Ssemudu, who represented District Chairperson Edith Aliguma, said promoting vocational training could help reduce youth unemployment and crime.
Kiryandongo Resident District Commissioner Dan Muganga urged government to redirect more funding toward vocational training, arguing that universities continue to produce large numbers of graduates who struggle to find employment.
“More money should be put in vocational training rather than scholarships for universities,” Muganga said. “Universities produce over 700,000 graduates annually, but only about 90,000 access formal employment. Many end up in jobs unrelated to what they studied or remain unemployed.”
He added that investing in skills development would create more job creators rather than job seekers, helping to address the growing unemployment challenge.
Kiryandongo Technical Institute Principal Bua Leone, the host of the four-day event, welcomed the government’s decision to hold the competitions at the institution and pledged commitment to producing skilled job creators.
He also noted an encouraging rise in the number of female students enrolling in technical courses, fields previously dominated by men.
The national competition will conclude on Friday, with top performers selected to represent Uganda at the World Skills Competition scheduled to take place in Shanghai, China, from September 22 to 27, 2026.
