Kagina Pushes for a Skill for Every Graduate to Fight Unemployment

Equipping every post-secondary graduate with practical skills is critical to tackling rising youth unemployment in Uganda, Allen Kagina, the Chairperson of the TVET Council, has said. Kagina warned that unemployment remains a major concern, particularly among young people, posing a serious risk to the country’s future. 

She noted that while the national unemployment rate stands at 12 percent, it rises to 16 percent among the youth. Even more alarming, she said, is that about 42 percent of young people are neither in employment nor in school. According to Kagina, both the government and the education sector must ensure that the system creates a direct pathway from education to employment.

She was speaking during the launch of the 11th edition of the Stanbic National Schools Championship, which has attracted more than 900 applications from schools across the country. “This is not just a competition but a training opportunity. Students go through mentorship, work in teams, and create, refine, and incubate ideas—developing the ability to think through contemporary problems,” she said.

The TVET Council, established under the TVET Act of 2025, regulates and coordinates technical and vocational education in Uganda, aligning skills development with labour market needs. Kagina emphasized that every graduate—regardless of academic background—should leave school with a hands-on skill that can generate income.

Juliet Atuhairwe Muzoora, Commissioner for Government Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, said the initiative complements the competency-based lower secondary curriculum introduced in 2020. The curriculum focuses on practical skills, student-centered learning, and innovation, including project work that contributes 20 percent of the final assessment, as well as integration of ICT. 

She noted that both the curriculum and the championship encourage students to identify community challenges and develop solutions—an approach key to Uganda’s ambition of attaining middle-income status.

Nearly 1,000 schools entered this year’s competition, with 200 selected for a boot camp that offers mentorship and support in developing projects. Tunde Thorpe, Executive Head of Business and Commercial Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda, said the initiative is designed to help students not only secure employment but also create their own jobs while solving community problems.

Now in its 11th edition, the programme has mentored more than 420,000 students and supported over 200 student-led startups. Last year’s winners, Sumayya Girls School, developed a solution for diagnosing urinary tract infections, aimed at making testing more affordable and accessible.

Diana Ondoga, Manager of Corporate Social Investment at Stanbic, said this year’s winning school will receive UGX 20 million, a sponsored trip to South Africa for mentorship and exposure, laptops for students, and cash rewards for teachers. The first runner-up will receive UGX 10 million, laptops, and teacher incentives, while the second runner-up will be awarded scholastic materials, laptops, and allowances for teachers.