By KT Reporter
The Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) has retooled its assessors to update their skills and prepare for the upcoming November-December assessments. The sessions also included a pre-test of practical assessment items.
Johnson Turyamusima, Principal Qualifications Officer, said that the TVET sector’s move to a competence-based system requires assessors to understand the specific skills and competencies learners must demonstrate during assessment. He added that many assessors were trained under the old knowledge-based system, so updating their skills is essential.
“Most assessors came from a knowledge-based background,” Turyamusima said. “The competence-based system is different. It requires assessors to know the exact skills, procedures, and performance levels learners must show. They need to see how work is done in real settings and apply clear scoring criteria. Ongoing training ensures they stay current and deliver reliable, fair assessments.”
The two-week training has been going on at Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) skills and development centre in Namanve, and it brought together 40 UVTAB subject specialists and 160 assessors and industry experts.
Under the TVET reforms and the tripartite model, assessors come from three groups: UVTAB officials, trainers from accredited institutions, and experts from industry. Their mandate goes beyond marking exams. They design and refine the final practical assessment tasks, ensuring each task matches industry standards and the competence-based curriculum.
During the conduct of field assessment, they supervise the sessions, observe the candidates’ performance step by step, and award marks based on agreed-upon scoring guides. This approach links classroom training to real workplace expectations and keeps assessment aligned with current occupational skills.
Ashraf Arinitwe, senior officer at UVTAB, said that the training, assessors in trades such as carpentry, bakery, and tailoring, created practical tasks. These tasks form a pool for UVTAB to select future exam items. Arinitwe said they pre-tested the tasks to ensure they meet standards and are practical.
Adding on Arinitwe’s view, Turyamusima also said the pre-testing process helped the assessor identify gaps they had missed while designing the assessment. It also provided a clear guide on how to assign scores for each step, ensuring consistency and fairness in marking.
During the retooling, Assessors carried out the pre-tests in selected locations, including the Uganda Industrial Research Institute, which has facilities for different trades.
George Washington Abilli, a trainer at St Kizito Technical Institute in Soroti, said the pre-test measures how long it takes to complete each task so they can allocate enough time for learners. He explained that setting a task for one or two hours requires evidence, which only a pre-test provides.
He added that if expert assessors need two hours to finish a task, a learner might need three to three and a half hours.
Banis Chelangat, an assessor and trainer from Kosodo Technical Institute in Pallisa, added that during the pre-test, assessors follow the same setup a learner would use to prepare the task. She said training assessors and running these pre-tests is critical because it helps them monitor learners effectively and understand each step of the process.
She added that the process also shows how learners from different settings approach a practical task. Pointing to the machinery and equipment at UIRI, she noted that a learner from an institute with modern equipment may handle the task differently from one in a rural setting without such tools.
“Pre-testing allows us to establish a level playing field for all learners. It helps us understand how candidates from different backgrounds and with varying access to equipment approach tasks. This way, we can set fair standards that accurately assess skills without giving an advantage or disadvantage to anyone.”
Joace Ekyakunzire, a trainer at the Uganda hotel and tourism college- Jinja, said retraining, developing test items, and pre-testing them helps assessors understand the specific competencies they need to evaluate. This process, she added, also guides them in awarding marks more accurately and consistently and knowing the reason why one should award a given score or not.
This is the first time UVTAB has retrained assessors, guided them through test item development, and conducted pre-tests since its establishment in March this year. Last year, the defunct UBTEB had launched similar programs but reached only a limited number of assessors due to funding shortages. This year, the training was made possible with a 400 million grant from Enabel – The Belgian Development Agency.
Speaking to URN, Jalia Nasaza, Acting Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of curriculum development at UVTAB, emphasised the need to harmonise assessment between formally and informally acquired skills.
“Employers want performance and results, not just qualifications. This workshop helps us ensure that the people we certify meet global standards of work. We are involving industry players so that our curriculum and assessments are always in tune with the realities of the workplace,” Nasaza said.
She further added that ongoing TVET reforms have introduced sector skills committees made up of industry representatives, ensuring continuous updates to curricula and assessments in line with technological and market changes.
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