UBTEB has Shs13.1 billion funding gap – Oyesigye

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Business and Technical Education Board (UBTEB), has reported a budget deficit due to government failure to fully finance their 2021/2022 Financial year budget.

While briefing the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Sports about the board challenges, the UBTEB Executive Secretary Onesmus Oyesigye, revealed that the board has a funding gap of 13.13 billion shillings, hence affecting their calendar year programs.

Oyesigye explains that the board had a strategic plan projection for the financial year 2021/22 amounting to 42.034 billion shillings.

However, the government allocated 28.90 billion Shillings towards the budget.

According to Oyesigye, the 28.90 billion shillings was used to finance wages, non-wages (the regular expenditures like fuel) and development. He indicates that the funding gap of 13.134billion Uganda Shillings is leaving the other activities at a standstill.

Among the activities that are affected is the funding for the assessment of demand driven Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills for a competent and ethical workforce.

Under this activity, the board is aiming at evaluating which TVET courses are on demand on the market before they go ahead to develop them for the learners. He also said the budget deficit has also put on hold an assessment of looking at the competitiveness of TVET graduates in the local, regional and international labour markets.

Oyesigye explains that UBTEB developed and is running a five year strategic plan 2021-2025 which is budgeted for 224.7billion shillings.

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