Technical education will address unemployment
Aug 26, 2009
EDITOR — The outcry from university graduates about unemployment continues to rise. Statistics reveal there are more than 400,000 new entrants on the labour market every year. Unemployment is likely to continue unless attention is paid to technical educ
EDITOR — The outcry from university graduates about unemployment continues to rise. Statistics reveal there are more than 400,000 new entrants on the labour market every year. Unemployment is likely to continue unless attention is paid to technical education.
Some courses offered by universities are not relevant and those that are, have overwhelming demand, making finding employment harder.
This has been worsened by universities that duplicate courses in a bid to make more money.
It is high time people enrolled for technical courses such as building, engineering and architectural draftsmanship.
These courses are offered at technical colleges such as Uganda Technical College-Elgon; Uganda Technical College-Lira; Uganda Technical College-Kichwamba and Uganda Technical College-Bushenyi.
Technical courses are marketable due to the growing industrial sector, where most of the graduates seek employment.
A research I have carried out among alumni of Uganda Technical College-Elgon, shows that most people from technical colleges get employment soon after graduation, while others create jobs in their areas of specialisation.
Graduates, mainly from arts courses attained from tertiary institutions, are trained to be job-creators.
The advantages of technical education, coupled with the recent increment in tuition fees by about 40% in public universities, can address unemployment.
The Government needs to upgrade infrastructure in technical colleges and increase funding to enable technical colleges get the necessary tools and equipment.
David Musiimaami
Institutional Relations Officer of Uganda Technical College-Elgon
Some courses offered by universities are not relevant and those that are, have overwhelming demand, making finding employment harder.
This has been worsened by universities that duplicate courses in a bid to make more money.
It is high time people enrolled for technical courses such as building, engineering and architectural draftsmanship.
These courses are offered at technical colleges such as Uganda Technical College-Elgon; Uganda Technical College-Lira; Uganda Technical College-Kichwamba and Uganda Technical College-Bushenyi.
Technical courses are marketable due to the growing industrial sector, where most of the graduates seek employment.
A research I have carried out among alumni of Uganda Technical College-Elgon, shows that most people from technical colleges get employment soon after graduation, while others create jobs in their areas of specialisation.
Graduates, mainly from arts courses attained from tertiary institutions, are trained to be job-creators.
The advantages of technical education, coupled with the recent increment in tuition fees by about 40% in public universities, can address unemployment.
The Government needs to upgrade infrastructure in technical colleges and increase funding to enable technical colleges get the necessary tools and equipment.
David Musiimaami
Institutional Relations Officer of Uganda Technical College-Elgon