Do not despise jobs-Buganda Premier

The Buganda Premier Charles Peter Mayiga has urged Buganda Royal Institute of Business and Technical Education (BRIBTE) graduands not to despise jobs and be transparent while executing their work.

Mayiga made the comments on Friday while presiding over the eleventh graduation of BRIBTE in the city suburbs of Mengo.

Over 1,405 graduands were awarded diplomas and certificates in vocational studies.

Buganda's Education Minister Dr Twaha Kawaase said that vocational training is the most powerful weapon that can be used to fight unemployment in the country and urged graduates who failed to secure jobs to embrace it.

"I implore thousands of graduates who have failed to secure jobs or establish their own initiatives to join vocational studies and get skills. Most graduates who have failed to secure jobs because they lack employable skills, access to resources and negative attitude towards certain types of work," Kawaase said.

He noted that (BRIBTE) was established by the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi 11 in 1999 to provide quality, relevant and affordable education linked to vocational skills development.

Various reports indicate that Uganda is among the countries with the fastest growing young population which is characterized with unemployment rate of about 75%. This is majorly attributed to lack of employable skills, access to resources and negative attitude towards certain types of work

Kawaase also urged the graduands to use the knowledge and skills gained in class to pool resources together and startup businesses.

Hajjat Rehmah Kasule, the Chairman of the institution's governing council lauded the Kabaka for his visionary leadership to start the institution to bridge the skills and employment gap among the youth in the country.

She noted that as the country work towards sustainable development goals, stake holders in the education sector must be cognizant that formal education alone cannot empower youth to face the world.

"We need an education system that promotes supportive programs like leadership, mentorship, internship, business incubation and personal development impediments that hinder youth from reaching their full potential," she said.

BRIBTE Principal Anthony Wamala urged the graduands to keep the institution virtues and objectives upon which the institution was established