TVET not a dead-end career path, Kasakya tells Ugandan youth

ParrotsugNov 11, 2026Read original

In Uganda, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often seen as an option for students who perform poorly in traditional schools. Some parents also believe vocational careers lead to low-paying jobs with limited growth opportunities.

However, TVET offers opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and career advancement, with some training pathways extending to PhD level, as explains Moses Kasakya, the Executive Director of the TVET Council.

Kasakya says the perception that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is meant for academic failures was misleading, emphasising that practical skills are increasingly important to Uganda’s economic transformation.

“We will not allow anyone to tell you that the technical or vocational pathway is a dead end. It is not. It was misleading for some time when people were saying that when you take the route of TVET, it means your failure,” he said, urging young Ugandans to embrace technical and vocational education, saying it offers opportunities for career progression up to doctoral level.

“Actually, it means that you want to be practical. It does not mean that you are a failure. So young people, build your expertise, your competencies, take pride in your skills and keep developing because the framework shows that you can start right from the basic level up to a PhD level.”

He made the remarks ahead of the launch of Uganda’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Qualification Framework scheduled on Friday at Serena Hotel in Kampala.

TVET Council says the framework establishes a common national reference for TVET qualifications, defining the competencies and practical abilities expected of individuals at different levels of training.

It also provides a structured progression pathway, allowing learners to advance from basic skills and artisan levels to craftsman, technician, master technician, master technologist and chief technologist levels.

According to Kasakya, the framework will also recognise competencies acquired outside formal classrooms through apprenticeship, workplace experience and other informal learning arrangements.

He said this would be achieved through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), which allows individuals to demonstrate their acquired skills through assessment and obtain qualifications corresponding to their competencies.

“A carpenter, for example, may have learned through years of practice and the mechanic may have developed competencies through apprenticeship by working under someone,” he said.

Kasakya said the framework would address challenges employers face in determining the actual capabilities of job applicants holding different qualifications.

He added that it links training programmes to occupational standards developed with input from industries through sector skills expert committees, ensuring that training responds to labour market demands.

Kasakya said the reforms were also critical to Uganda’s ambition of expanding its economy from $50b to $500b.

“One of the greatest enablers is having a competent, skilled labour force. Competence means that they are capable of producing results and they also act with the right character. Those two must go together,” he said.

He called on employers and industries to provide information on the skills they require, while urging training institutions and assessors to maintain standards and avoid compromising the quality of graduates.

Kasakya also encouraged parents to guide children towards training pathways that match their talents, ambitions and market opportunities.

He said harmonising Uganda’s TVET qualifications with regional and international frameworks would make Ugandan workers more competitive in foreign labour markets.