JICA, Nakawa celebrate jubilee

The chief guest, First Lady, Mrs Museveni, launching the diploma courses at the Nakawa Vocational Training Institute in Kampala recently

In 2003, Richard Byamugisha lost all hope of enrolling into university to study engineering because he could not afford tuition. "I was at home for two years. In 2005, my father's friend offered to pay my tuition for a vocational course," Byamugisha narrates.

"I joined Nakawa Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) to study motor vehicle mechanics," he says. After two years, Byamugisha graduated and worked at his uncle's garages in Mengo, a city suburb.

Byamugisha and his colleagues later set up their own garage. On Wednesday last week, Byamugisha joined other students to celebrate the 50 years of co-operation between NVTI and the Government of Japan through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

The celebrations were held at NVTI in Nakawa, Kampala. The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, was the chief guest. Godfrey Fred Muwanga, NVTI's principal, says the collaboration started in 1968 when President Dr Apollo Milton Obote visited Japan and made a request to the Government of Japan.

Muwanga says the objective of the establishment of the institute was to train workers in industries with a view of enabling them with skills to address the job challenges arising from technological changes in the places of work.

"The support included building of infrastructure, provision of equipment, provision of experts and training of Ugandan instructors," he says.

The institute was officially opened in 1971 with the support from JICA, such as infrastructure, provision of equipment or dispatch of Japanese experts and started with four fields: electricity, machining and fitting, motor vehicle and welding and fabrication.

"I have bought a fourroomed house. I used to think that one had to have a degree to be successful. This is not true because many of friends who have degrees are jobless," he says.

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