Experts warn on fake oil institutions

May 19, 2015

A country in its early stages of developing an oil and gas industry will have many institutions mushrooming claiming to offer training to people who wish to be employed in the sector.

By John Odyek

A country in its early stages of developing an oil and gas industry will have many institutions mushrooming claiming to offer training to people who wish to be employed in the sector.


Education experts have therefore cautioned Ugandans to be careful when selecting to pay for both cheap and expensive courses in the oil and gas sector hoping to get lucrative jobs.

The experts said those who enrolled and acquire certificates may find that these documents are not genuine and cannot be accepted by international oil companies.

Many institutions are emerging in Kampala and other parts of the country offering oil and gas courses. They run adverts and have billboards enticing people to enroll for courses such as fashion and petroleum, petroleum engineering, petroleum drilling and petroleum management.

Experts recommend that any institution seeking to offer oil and gas courses should contact international oil companies to understand their human resource needs and the qualification needed for training before beginning training.

Robin Todd, education and skills advisor Cambridge Education, a UK based engineering and development institution, said regulators have to come in to protect people.

"When an oil and gas industry is emerging many institutions mushroom where they make people their hard earned money for training but the certificates they give are not recognized by the oil industry. The students can't get jobs with them," Todd said.

Todd cited countries like Ghana where people have sold off their land, properties while others took bank loans to undertake courses in oil and gas only to find later that the course were fake and those providing them disappear when cornered.

Todd explained that the trainers promise to get jobs to students after the courses are completed which they cannot do like it happened in many cases in Ghana. Todd told participants at a conference on oil and gas organized by the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum that many fake courses come up under the disguise of local content.

Todd proposed that an agreed logo should be provided by the ministry of education and sports to show that an institution has been accredited to offer training and education programs for the oil and gas. He said the public should be made aware of this logo which they use to identify genuine institutions.

Todd suggested that a national talent register for those trained in the sector should be made and oil companies asked to employ them.

Jimmy Mugerwa, general manager Tullow Uganda Ltd said the industry needs skillful people to work in the sector and lack of specific skills was a risk factor in the sector.

"The Lake Albert Basin development projects will provide at peak 13,000  to 15,000 direct jobs and indirect and induced jobs will be about 150,000. We need people trained. Drivers, welders, plumbers should not be imported if they are available locally," Mugerwa said.

Graham Beattie, director Cults Consultancy, a Scotland based industrial training and technology strategy consulting firm, said Uganda's institutions interested in training people for the sector should affiliate to the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (OPITO) with offices based in UK and Dubai. OPITO is the global institution that creates standards for training in the sector.

Beattie said there were also reputable universities globally recognized for offering such courses. He said institutions in Uganda interested in training people can affiliate to such universities

Dr. Rose Nassali Lukwago, permanent secretary ministry of education, science, technology and sports said once they understand the standards required for training and education for the oil and gas sector, they would provide guidance to private and public institutions offering courses in sector.

"Because we have a partnership with the private institutions in providing training, we will have to work with them to provide the correct training," Nassali said.

Lukwago said the ministry would follow up on the proposals made and hold meetings with various stakeholders to come up with guidelines for training on the sector.

"Parents prefer academic qualifications instead of vocational skills that is why we have more engineers than technicians. Instead of having a ratio of eight technicians to one engineer, we have eight engineers to one technician. We want to reverse this with the 10 year strategic plan for skilling Ugandan," she added.

A World Bank and Mott MacDonald report has identified 18 disciplines and 49 occupational areas that will are required to work in the sector. This range from chemical, electrical engineering, carpenters, finance and asset managers, surveyors, electrical technicians, painters, chemical technicians, scaffolding and hospitality and catering staff.

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