The feasibility of competence based education and training policy in the Ugandan context a case: the painting and decorator programme Lugogo vocational training Institute

Abstract

The efforts to effectively reform Business Technical Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) towards a Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) in Uganda began in 2004 with the development of the Uganda Vocational Qualifications Framework instruments in order to effectively enhance CBET mechanisms in Uganda's education systems. Four years later the introduction of Assessment Training Packages (ATPs) into selected BTVET learning institutions has caused radical changes both negative and positive in teaching, learning and assessment processes within the BTVET sector in Uganda. . In accordance with the aims of this thesis, we sought to understand the sequence of events in the evolution of CBE/T in Uganda, this study therefore brings an overview of relevant reports, recommendations and reviews, as well as voices of expatriates pertaining to CBET seeking to answer two fundamental questions; Is there a place for a competency-based approach to be formally integrated into Uganda's formal BTVET sector? Is the integration of CBET into the current formal BTVET context practical? A qualitative methodology was used to carry out the study. The data examined comprised of documents pertaining to competency-based programs, information from descriptive surveys and in-depth interviews conducted with a group of participants with a long term experience in teaching, and/or designing curriculum for competency-based programs in the BTVET sectors. The Data collected was coded throughout the collection process and analyzed for identification of themes and interpretation. Results of the study suggest that competency-based learning has a place in the formal BTVET sector and can be effective in those elements of a course which place an emphasis on technical tasks. Its suitability was acknowledged as a component part of an integrated approach rather than a single approach. Results also suggested that the nature of competency-based programs in the BTVET sector tends to produce a rigidity of thinking, based on the ability to follow specific procedures, whereas the aims of the BTVET sector especially institutions of higher learning require graduates to acquire functional knowledge based on analytic inquiry. This implies that the BTVET sector needs to look 'beyond skill' to producing graduates with the required generic skills and attributes considered to be both employable and acceptable within the broader community. Results also suggested that given the status of BTVET in Uganda (infested with low levels of financing, inadequate quality assurance mechanisms, slow response to technological advancements, lack of binding public private partnerships, ill equipped school workshops and laboratories, negative attitudes towards TVET etc.) CBET can best be practical and sustainable at lower levels of Competences, and in selected BTVET learning institutions