The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities has embarked on free skills training for the youth to improve their employability.
Under its apprenticeship programme, the ministry hopes to offer free training to at least 150 young men and women each year, a total of 750 in a period of five years, according to Doreen Katusiime, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary.
She said it is part of a bigger strategy by the government to cause transformation through skills training, starting with the tourism and hospitality industry, one of the key sectors and major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We hope to do this for many more years so as to improve employability of the young people through hands-on training,” she said.
Katusiime made the remarks while presiding over the official launch of the apprenticeship training at the Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (UHTTI) in Jinja on Thursday.
The group of 150 selected from different parts of the country, is the second cohort and comprises 49 being trained as tour guides, 29 as receptionists, 27 in Baking and Pastry, 25 in cooking and 20 waiters/waitresses.
The training programme which is 70% practical, commenced on July 1, 2025 and will run for ten months, according to Emmanuel Kaweesi, the UHTTI Dean of Academics.
He further explained that before being passed out, the learners have to undergo a mandatory assessment by the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB), a body responsible for the assessment and certification of competencies gained through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes.
“The programme is vocational oriented and regulated by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. It is meant to equip young people with relevant skills,” he said.
According to Kaweesi, under the arrangement, UHTTI is charged with training and supervision of the learners, ministry of tourism wildlife and antiquities is responsible for funding the programme while Ministry of Gender handles its regulation.
Kaweesi also revealed that 84 apprentices that successfully completed training in cohort one last year will graduate in November this year.
This year, Katusiime said the ministry received more than 1,000 applications of which over 300 possessed the minimum requirements but 150 made it to the final list.
“Take this training seriously, these skills do not expire and we hope it will add value to you and get you jobs within and outside the country. We want to change from exporting unskilled to skilled labour,” she noted.
Richard Kawere, the UHTTI principal commended government for the initiative meant to strengthen skills training and for the strides made in turning UHTTI into a centre of excellence in hospitality skills training in Uganda and beyond.
He highlighted some of the achievements as construction of the multi-billion hotel and institute premises expected to be completed by September this year and capacity building for staff.
“We no longer have complaints about lack of facilities. For human resource, the institute staff have undergone intensive capacity building for the last two years. We are also progressing from manual to automated systems,” he said.
