Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi, a renowned multimedia visual artist, never completed his formal education, leaving school in Senior Four. Rather than allowing the interruption to define his path, he turned to visual art. With no formal training, Nnyanzi taught himself the craft, refining his skills through years of practice, experimentation, and persistence until his work matched, and at times surpassed, that of artists trained in formal art schools.
Today he is known as a “God-taught visual arts practitioner and consultant” of international repute, a title that captures the unconventional path he took. His path shifted at an art conference, where he shared a room with scholars from Middlesex University in London. “I told them I wanted to join the university to at least get a formal degree in the practice I had honed,” Nnyanzi says.
However, their response surprised him. Given his experience and body of work, officials said an undergraduate degree would understate his level. He was, in their assessment, already close to a master’s graduate. By then Nnyanzi was training university students and running seminars. His art had reached the White House, State Houses in Uganda and Kenya, several Museums in Europe, multinational corporations, and the covers of magazines and books both local and international.
Under a policy recognising prior learning, Middlesex offered Nnyanzi direct admission to a master’s programme, allowing his years of practical experience to stand in place of the conventional academic route. There would be no lectures to attend and no course units to complete. His body of work itself would serve as evidence of the knowledge and skill he had accumulated over the years.
“I was so surprised. I had never thought of this,” he said. “People go to university to gather skills and knowledge. But if someone gathers the same through other means, we say he is not educated simply because he didn’t go through the traditional system.” In place of coursework, the university asked him to write a concept paper on his trade for examiners to assess. He was stumped until his son, then in Senior Six, explained what was being asked.
“He said they wanted me to write about the things I had talked about over the years, in seminars, in gatherings,” Nnyanzi said. “With that, everything was clear. I finished my paper and passed with a distinction, and I was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Design (Professional Practice).” Nnyanzi’s story sits at the heart of a question the education sector is now confronting. Why does the system call only classroom graduates “educated,” while skills gathered elsewhere count for nothing?
An answer is emerging. Uganda is shifting toward competence-based learning, valuing what a person can do over what they can certify. Recognition of Prior Learning sits at the centre of that shift. Dr Vincent Ssembatya, director of quality assurance at the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), said the council is developing a framework institutions will use to formally recognise and accredit prior learning.
“We are developing a framework to help institutions formally assess and recognise knowledge and skills people have acquired outside the traditional classroom,” Ssembatya said. “The goal is to ensure prior learning is properly assessed and given academic recognition where the learner demonstrates the required competencies.” Dr Ssembatya said Recognition of Prior Learning will not simply mean handing out degrees to people believed to have met certain competencies. It can also exempt learners from studying material they already know.
He gave the example of a diploma holder who, after years of practice, enrols for a bachelor’s degree, only to be forced through units covering ground they mastered long ago. The push extends beyond universities. Jalia Nasaza, the Deputy Executive Secretary for Curriculum Development and Management at the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board, said a similar framework is being developed for the technical and vocational education and training sector.
The framework will align with the East African regional framework on recognition of prior learning and provide a formal pathway for people to have skills gained through work and practice assessed and recognised. The TVET Act 2025 strengthens this provision. Section 77(5) requires the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) to assess competencies gained through both formal and informal pathways, including recognition of prior learning. Candidates register for assessment through accredited training institutions.
The approach is also being tested in practice. An ILO-supported programme under PROSPECTS, funded by the Netherlands, has worked with the Federation of Uganda Employers and UVTAB to assess and certify refugees and members of host communities in trades including welding, tailoring, bricklaying, cooking and poultry farming. Recognition of prior learning is not new to Uganda’s education system. Some elements are already in use, although key details remain unresolved. Once settled, the framework will allow people to earn formal certification for skills gained through work, life experience and practical training.
The Mature Age Entrance Examination and credit exemptions have long provided limited forms of recognition of prior learning. A December 2024 conference in Kampala produced a national roadmap calling for a multi-sectoral steering committee, a recognition-of-prior-learning framework within the Uganda National Qualifications Framework, stakeholder consultations, and the finalisation of the framework.
For Nnyanzi, the reform is long overdue. He argues that Uganda’s education system remains too rigid, often judging learning by a single measure: years spent in a classroom. “There are people who have spent years mastering skills through practice, but their knowledge is treated as if it does not exist because they lack the papers,” he said.
Richard Musaazi, a resident of Nansana, echoed the concern, saying people who return to school to upgrade their qualifications are often required to repeat material they already studied at a lower level simply because the curriculum demands it. “Sometimes you go back to study and find yourself repeating things you already know,” Musaazi said. “If someone has already demonstrated competence in a subject or skill, the system should assess what they know instead of making them start again.”
However, not everyone is convinced the reform is risk-free. Dr Cindy Magara, a senior lecturer at Makerere University, warned that recognition of prior learning could create loopholes for institutions to award degrees without adequate evidence of competence or exempt students from course units based on claimed rather than demonstrated knowledge.
“Recognition of prior learning must not become a shortcut to a qualification,” Magara said. “Without strong verification, the system risks turning claims of experience into academic credits without sufficient evidence.” Answering the concerns, Ssembatya said the fears are being addressed through standards the council will enforce, alongside institutions’ internal quality assurance systems and external oversight. Nassaza also added that applicants seeking recognition under the framework will have to provide evidence of their prior learning through assessment or other documented means-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
