MTAC calls for more govt funding as 787 graduate 

With increased enrolment for vocational courses, the Management Training and Advisory Centre (MTAC) seeks government funding to address its unfunded priorities.

The MTAC executive director, Soteri Karanzi Nabeeta, said whereas the institution’s funding has been significantly enhanced compared to the previous years, there’s need for guaranteed continuous enhancements in their subsequent budgets to fulfill their potential.

“The MTAC subvention was enhanced from the traditional Shs 100m per year to Shs 880m per year. Nevertheless, this subvention is still too low to support the Centre. We appeal to the government to increase the wage subvention from the current Shs 880m to Shs 1.5bn per year,” Nabeeta said.

He said this would enable the Centre to clear outstanding arrears, particularly the part-time staff as enrolment for vocational courses has more than doubled. Nabeeta appealed at the MTAC 9th graduation ceremony held last Friday at the institution’s main campus in Nakawa under the theme “Promoting Enterprise Development through Skills Training”.

At least 787 graduands were awarded certificates and diplomas in various fields. Of these, all drawn from outreach centers of Ntungamo, Mbarara, Pader, Mbale, Iganga, Luweero, and Nakawa main campus, females made up 68 per cent.

MTAC is also seeking Shs 5bn to complete the Ntungamo study centre, construct a permanent home for Mbale, and fund the proposed Job Creation Awareness Training and Development and Skills Development through the establishment of incubation centres in the MTAC regional centres project. The total project cost is Shs 25.8bn over a span of five years.

According to Nabeeta, the skills programme would play a significant role in the realization of planned development through the famed Parish Development Model.

“We have appealed to parliament to allocate us Shs 25bn to enable us to train at least 100 participants per constituency. This would translate into 23,800 entrepreneurs. The same monies would enable us to equip each trained participant with a startup toolkit and ultimately increase productivity,” he said.

In a speech read on behalf of the Trade minister, Francis Mwebesa, the commissioner of Cooperative Policy and Development, Robert Bariyo Barigye, who presided over the ceremony, applauded MTAC for running market-driven courses targeting youths and micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Barigye, also the registrar of Cooperative Societies, said despite government efforts to offer free education at various levels to the youthful labour force, the country continues to experience deficits in the supply of skills to human resources which has adverse effects on the economy.

“The uniqueness of MTAC is offering comprehensive training to ensure the growth of people and sustainability of enterprises. It is gratifying that MTAC has been active even in places where the institution does not have fully- fledged outreach centres in fields such as bakery, cookery, hairdressing, and soap making. These skills have got the potential to turn the unemployed into job creators as the government focuses on closing the skills gap.”

Barigye handed over certificates to 63 outstanding performers at certificate and diploma levels. Students who complete certificate programmes at MTAC and score class one as categorized by the National Council for Higher Education – once they return to pursue diplomas at MTAC – are exempted from tuition fees and only meet functional expenses.

The scholarship scheme, started in 2012, was also extended to the best graduates. In his message to the graduands, Barigye said: “While action without knowledge is void, knowledge without action is madness and meaningless. The more successful and happy people have a positive mental attitude. We urge you to be positive, principled and proactive. Be open to change, and do not hide from mistakes but keep moving forward, make connections and above all, be patient.”

Meanwhile, the UBTEB deputy executive director, Wilfred Nahamya, cautioned the graduands against enrolling into unlicensed institutions for further studies.

“We have received cases where universities request us to certify some documents only to discover that the institutions were illegal. This automatically makes one’s documents fake. You may enroll in these illegal institutions and get the skills but your papers will not be accepted at the national level in case you intend to upgrade or seek formal employment,” Nahamya said.

He commended MTAC for championing vocational education and entrepreneurship since theoretical subjects are no longer a guarantee to “quick employment” opportunities, especially for the youths.

nangonzi@observer.ug