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A new report has recommended the review of the technical vocational and education training curriculum every five years.

The report noted that this will address the rapid changes in the sector, many of them resulting from emerging technologies.

Done by the Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board (UBTEB), the report said the ministries of education and sports and finance should be engaged to increase funding to facilitate the review, adding that the reviews would also ensure stakeholder engagement to provide broad input from different perspectives.

"This should include those who provide the training, TVET graduates, the TVET assessment body, and players from the industry," the report said.

Titled Tracer Study of National Diploma in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Water Graduates 2016-2019 was released Tuesday at the Ntinda Vocational Institute.

The report was based on a study undertaken by the board between 2016 to 2019 targeting a total of 249 graduates of four diploma engineering programs in Uganda with the objective of among others determining the relevance of the programs, gauging the employers’ satisfaction towards TVET graduate skills and identifying the gaps existing in the TVET circular.

The four programs include mechanical, electrical, water, and civil engineering.

Of the graduates sampled, 74 percent (184) had graduated from government institutions while 26 percent (65) were from private institutions.

During the period, a total (108) employers both from government( 39) and private (69)were also interviewed.

The results of the study showed that 20.0% of graduates sampled got employment in less than one month, 63% got a job within one year after graduation and 37 % got employment after more than one year," the report said.

"In terms of TVET graduate employability regarding hands-on skills, employers are generally satisfied that the engineering TVET Diploma graduates are fit for the job market, " the report said.

In analysing the jobs held by the graduates versus their education level, the study indicated that results showed that approximately 66 percent of the graduates had their current jobs matching their education levels. "This indicates compatibility between the education qualifications produced by the educational institutions and the skills demanded by the market, " the report said.

At 86 percent, mechanical engineering had the highest proportion of TVET graduates who were able to secure employment after graduation, followed by electrical engineering at 84 while civil engineering, at 80 percent, and water engineering also have decent shares.