The Kituo cha Ufundi

Kituo cha Ufundi - Centre for Craft and Innovation tackles the major youth unemployment problem all of them eagerly waiting for new skills given outside of the mainstream education system. Kituo cha Ufundi makes a long-awaiting intervention. Beneficaries are not only students, they are the local community persons waiting for local solutions for their daily challenges: companies waiting for professional skills, families waiting for jobs. Kituo cha Ufundi engages the market, it engages the mind set development of students and their social network, and it engages with the education sector. It challenges other institutions to do the same through generating market competition between companies and schools. 

Uganda is a country with the youngest and highest workforce globally. While about 700,000 young people reach working age every year, only 75,000 jobs are created per year. Uganda needs to enhance the private led economy not just through job creation, but also with high quality hands-on skills. Over 50 per cent of Uganda’s GDP is attributed to the informal sector and more than 80 per cent of the labour force is in the informal sector. The Ugandan education system lacks the teaching of a practical, innovative and multidisciplinary skills set,yet there are more and more jobs emerging in the sector of construction, catering, plumbing, metal works and fabrication, etcetera. Kituo cha Ufundi emerges to intervene in this area and make some bold interventions.

The Kituo cha Ufundi – Centre of Crafts and Innovations provides technical soft skills through innovative teaching methods embedded in the needs of the Ugandan labor market. Focused on five vocational skills including (a) tailoring and design,  (b) metal works and fabrications, (c) catering, and food processing (d) woodwork and carpentry, and (e) motor vehicle repairs, our ambition is to make these skill not only available but also professionalized. We will seek to apply an inhouse dual-curriculum offering both hands-on training in actual marketplace but also theoretical training in soft skills and praxis.

The students - Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) graduates and other entrepreneurs who intend to professionalize and re-skill– are encouraged to select different modules which helps them to require a particular set of skills which is necessary to solve their identified problem. The education program is based on an interactive learning cycle: (1) Enrolled students are required to have an emphatic understanding of an issue within their locality and to select their modules according to their interest. (2) Graduates obtaining the Certificate of the Ministry of Higher Education in Uganda, test  complete products and are provided with material and a workstation to start their own company.

It serves the needs of the average Ugandan youth: (1) a create own job – or provision of job entrance into the opportunities available. (2) professional skills – provided by a practical and theoretical curriculum. (3) a professional ethic and network – achieved through constant interactions with clients, companies and experts. (4) confidence and a sense of responsibility to solve local issues through unique focus on their locality.

(1) Kampala has a major  youth unemployment problem all of them eagerly waiting for new skills given outside of mainstream education system. This project thusly makes a major long-awaited intervention. (2) Beneficiaries are not only students, they are the local community persons waiting for local solution for their daily challenges. These also include companies waiting for professional skills, or families waiting for jobs. (3) It engages the market, it engages the mind set development of students and their social network, and the engages with the education sector. It challenges other institutions to do the same through generating market competition. 

The locality is significant. The business model is unique. The teaching method is wide ranging. The locality – Kampala, a hotspot for unemployed youth who are sadly lacking in skills despite abundance of projects needing professionalized technical vocational skills. The business module: A high quality school, accessible for the average Ugandan financed through their own various production. The teaching method: solution-oriented, context-specific, innovative and all-embracing. 

It is a technical Vocational School. The attached local companies operating within the dynamics of the current Ugandan labour market are equipped with two experts serving as trainers. While receiving constant business coaching, the use of new effective production methods is guaranteed. Kituo cha Ufundi  seeks to professionalize the Ugandan labour market in terms of innovative thinking, increased productivity and business performance.

Vocational Schools are existing already. 

We expect (1) employment of graduates within the Ugandan market, (2) professional skills set for our graduates, (3) products developed by our graduates sold on the local market, (4) higher professionality of companies in terms of business performance, (5) a high enrollment rate.

We wish to see (1) a higher employment rate in Uganda, (2) an increase in the formalization and professionalization of the Ugandan labour market, (3) a stronger competitiveness of the Ugandan labour market on the global level, (4) changes in the Ugandan education market by adapting similar Training Programs. 

The output is measured through (1) the number of students starting or finding a job after graduating, (2) the number of students graduating with hands-on vocational skills, (3) the number of students who are implementing their designed products. (4) the amount of students scoring high in their lives after school with Kituo cha Ufundi. The outcomes are measured through (1) the number of new companies are formed in Uganda, (2) the average number of employees in one company, (3) the amount of profit made by companies, (4) the number of formal registered companies, (5) the number of companies selling certified products.

50 Students 

Our goals are (1) increased productivity and business performance of companies, (2) job creators entering into the job market (3) higher quality in the production processes, (4) highly skilled workforce.

Unanticipated barriers might be a (1) a huge demand of enrollment which might be difficult to accommodate due to lack of space; we will then consider possibilities of expanding Kituo cha Ufundi to accommodate the number or opening branches in other parts of the country, (2) a huge success rate and monopoly of companies: More employees can be hired and products can be diversified, (3) an increase in costs of raw materials and production: The prices of services and products need to increase, (4) a fluctuation of students due to political and social conditions: A reduction in running costs and number of employees is needed.  

Through expansion, a huger number of employees, an increase in prices of services and products, a reduction of running costs and employees. 

We are three part-time staff. 

We are a team of three critical thinkers: Deogratius Oyire, education expert, who is currently working at the National Curriculum Development Centre of Uganda. Yusuf Serunkuma, scholar, who has been a visiting fellow at the Marx Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, and an AfOx guest scholar at Oxford University. Inka Mackenbrock, development expert, who graduated from the Wageningen University & Research and currently working as Deputy Country Director at the Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation Uganda.

Lichtstrahl e.V. Uganda, based in Münster, Germany

The business module: A high quality school, accessible for the average Ugandan financed through their own various production in five companies - (a) Tailoring & Design,  (b) Metal works and fabrications, (c) Catering, and Food processing (d) woodwork and carpentry, and (e) motor vehicle repairs. The technic behind: Two highly qualified training experts in each company, a curriculum designed and accredited by curriculum development experts, an innovative teaching method that focuses on dexterity and professionalism.

For the initiation of Kituo cha Ufundi, we apply for grants. After constructing the building and having the first enrollments, Kituo cha Ufundi will be financial sustainable due to the income of five companies and trainings fees.

Solve provides us a platform to expand, generate and experiment with our idea. While going through a review and meeting different experts, our solution is defended, criticized and enlarged by various experts in this field. Our solution will not only be contested, it might even inspire other entrepreneurs to expand their own solutions and challenges within their community. While being exposed to the Solve platform, we might attract other entrepreneurs who are interested in our solution.

Solve can provide us a platform to defend our solution. It does not only show the urgent need in Uganda to work on the education sector, as well as on the larger picture of East-Africa, it also provides credibility and encouragement to progress with our solution. Our goals are (1) to go through a critical jury and receive input towards our idea, (2) to meet other young entrepreneurs to solve issues within our generation, (3) to create a network of stakeholders who might provide input towards our solution.

The locality is significant. The business model is unique. The teaching method is wide ranging. The locality – Kampala, a hotspot for unemployed youth who are sadly lacking in skills despite abundance of projects needing professionalized technical vocational skills. Beneficiaries are not only students, they are the local community persons waiting for local solution for their daily challenges. These also include companies waiting for professional skills, or families waiting for jobs. It engages the market, it engages the mind set development of students and their social network, and the engages with the education sector. It challenges other institutions to do the same through generating market competition between companies and schools. The GM Prize on Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship will support Kituo Cha Ufundi in terms of networks, outreach, publicity and funding.