World Skills international is a global platform for skills excellence and development. It is also a growing movement that is changing the lives of young people through skills.

Skills Development in Africa is one of the strategic priorities at World Skills to empower and inspire the African youth to pursue personal and economic fulfilment.

This week, St. Joseph Kamuli is hosting the three days WorldSkills Africa global impact challenge 2023. A group of WorldSkills Experts from different countries travelled Uganda – Kamuli  for a capacity building skills bootcamp which is part of the Global Impact Challenge.

As one of the first recipients of the Makers Grant from WorldSkills Global Premium Partner, Stanley Black & Decker, this initiative aims to bridge the skills gap by providing mentorship to trainers and inspiring educators, government, and employers to work closer together to raise the standards of Vocational Education and Training in Uganda.

WorldSkills has been working with Don Bosco Tech Africa, to train the trainers from Salesians of Don Bosco TVET centres for Building, Carpentry, Electrical Installations, Welding, Plumbing, and Motor Vehicle Mechanic through online mentorship with WorldSkills Experts since May 2022. The bootcamp allows the trainers and students to put their learning into practice and receive technical training in person.

“We believe in the power of skills to change lives of young people. To enable a sustainable social and economic development through TVET, it is important to create meaningful dialogues and close collaboration between educators, industry, and government. The bootcamp is a great networking and knowledge exchange platform for the key stakeholders of TVET in Uganda” Said Fr. Ferdinand Ntunzwenimana, the Principle and Director of St. Joseph VTC Kamuli.

In her remarks, Ms. Grace Lung, the world skills international Senior Manager of Partnership Programmes emphasized that It is very important for young nations like Uganda, to focus on globally recognized skilling programs. “We desire that our well -established world skills experts will have far lasting impact on these young technicians currently undergoing training here at St. Joseph’s Vocational Training Centre”

She further noted out the need for governments innervations in the vocational skilling Programs “ “As World Skills International, we need the political commitment of all nations particularly in Africa and more so Uganda, where strong recommendation is for what skills can do to empower young people that we are targeting for capacity development. Most of these young people come from minority backgrounds and so this should be impactful in their working lives,”

The Deputy Director of Don Bosco Tech Africa, Br. John Njuguna Ngigi said that “we coordinate the Don Bosco TVET centres, guided by the pillars of modernization where we need to get rid of the obsolete equipment, by bringing the institutions to a modern level, with the next being capacity building particularly the management of the TVET centres to strengthen outcomes and the green ambition of the environmental consciousness.”

This Year’s event is sponsored by Stanley Black & Decker, organized by world skills Africa and Don Bosco Tech Africa, with support from African Union, African Union Development Agency, St. Joseph Vocational Training Centre Kamuli, Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre Palabek and Don Bosco VTC Bombo.