Uganda: Vocational Training and Tailoring Shop Program

Panyadoli Vocational Training Institute: “Basic Skills Vocational Training Outreach Programme”

Implemented by Real Medicine Foundation supported by JICA and the Directorate of Vocational Training, Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development South Sudan

Background to the Basic Skills Vocational Training Outreach Programme

After successfully completing the first phase of the “Basic Skills Vocational Training Outreach Programme” that ended in March 2015, RMF has enrolled trainees for the second intake which started the basic skills training at PVTI on 25^th May 2015.  The “Basic Skills Outreach Programme” implemented by Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) under the supervision of JICA and the Directorate of Vocational Training (DVT) at the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development (MoLPSHRD) South Sudan will run this program from May – 21^st  August 2015. This May 2015 report focuses on the results so far achieved towards fulfillment of the program and its objectives aiming at providing skills training for South Sudanese Refugees so as to enable them to become self-reliant within Uganda and when they eventually return to South Sudan.

The program is based on three main objectives which include;

1. To train refugees with the relevant vocational training skills;
2. To  prepare  refugees  for  the world  of  work  with  entrepreneurial  skills  for  both employment and self-employment;
3. To prepare refugees with basic skills that they shall use for nation building when returning to their home country.

August Work Plan

The general activities at the institution began on 11^th May 2015 when the staff reported for the second intake for the planning and programming of activities. During the staff meeting which was held on 12^th May 2015, the staff developed a work plan showing the set of goals and processes by which the targets of the program would be achieved with each department delineating what they intend to accomplish during their departmental training, how they intend to do it, and by what date they intend to have it done. As a result, each department developed worksheets, assignment sheets, lesson plans and each department established a list of training materials required for training, and these items were purchased by the procurement department. Among others, Items like timber, over courts, gloves, super glue, vanish, nails were purchased for the CJ department, brick overalls, gloves, crest tanks worth 1,000 litres, sand, lime, were purchased for the BCP department, braids, oils for the HDBT department while cotton materials, threads etc. were purchased for the TGC department.
 
 At the administrative level, a general work plan was developed into which all the departmental work plans fit. The work plan below shows how the institutional objectives and activities are progressing and by what date the activities are intended to end. 

Table showing work plan for the 7^th RMF PVTI Intake/ 2^nd Intake of Basic Skills Training Outreach Program
 

 
During the week, local labour was hired to clean the over grown grass which had turned the institution into a busy environment.

Community Mobilization

The community was mobilized from within the settlement through various media approaches like poster advertisement, in institutions like the churches, mosques and by the help of Refugee Welfare Councils who are Refugee representatives.
The format of the poster advertisement that was pinned read as below:

Real Medicine Foundation in partnership with JICA and the Government of South Sudan hereby invites all interested applicants for the following courses at PVTI:

• Hair dressing and beauty therapy
• Tailoring and garment cutting  
• Bricklaying and concrete practice
• Carpentry and joinery

Interested applicants should come to RMF/PVTI offices to get application forms for any of the above advertised courses.

Applications forms are free of charge
Qualifications:

• Must be able to read and write.
• Should be between 15 to 35 years
• Must be a primary leaver, secondary or its equivalent from your country of origin plus school dropouts

Applications and Applicants620 applications were received of which Carpentry and Joinery had 84, Tailoring and Garment Cutting had 244, Building and Concrete Practice had 103, and Hair Dressing Beauty Therapy had 189.
Each applicant was asked to complete an application form that was designed by RMF and the sample format of the application for admission which was being filled out by each applicant involved capturing basic information about the applicant and is shown below.
 

1. Name of applicant…………………………………………………………………………
2. Course applied…………………………………………………………………………………
3. Date of birth………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Marital status………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Level of education………………………………………………………………………………
6. Religion………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. Nationality……………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Health status [attach medical form] ……………………………………………………
9. Residence………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. Name of next of kin…………………………………………………………………………………
11. Father’s occupation…………………………………………………………………………………
12. Mother’s occupation……………………………………………………………………………..
13. Address………………………………………………………………………………………………

 
I hereby acknowledge that the information provided above is true to the best of my knowledge
Name……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Signature………………………………………………………………………………………
 
Shortlist of Applicants

233 applicants were short listed for interviews of which 47 were for CJ, 67 for TGC, 47 for BCP and 101 for HDBT.
 
Interviews and Enrollment

Usually other partners at the refugee settlement are invited to participate in the interviewing process. This was done and a copy of the letter below was sent out to identified partners to participate in the interviewing process.

REF: ENROLMENT OF TRAINEES TO PANYADOLI VOCATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE

RMF in partnership with JICA and the Government of South Sudan is implementing a basic skills program that targets skilling the refugees in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement. After a successful implementation of the 1^st phase (December 2014 to March 2015 in which 98 trainees graduated), RMF is now ready to enroll the second intake under this program.

The purpose of this letter is to invite you to be part of the interview panel for the enrolment of the trainees. This activity is scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday [20^th and 21^st May 2015] starting each day at 9:00am to 5:00pm.
We look forward to your usual cooperation.

To this call, we received apologies from Windle Trust since all staff was out for staff recollection for one week, InterAid Uganda. Kirandongo District Local Government Coordinator who because of various reasons and the activity of the day which involved hosting of a visitor from AU, many of the implementing partners were not able to participate in this activity.   
The assigning of the interview panel was according to departments as follows:

Group 1: Tasked to handle Brick Laying and Concrete Practice/Carpentry and Joinery
Members were:

1. Oryem Angelus Remmy                            RMF
2. Mwanamwollo Mbusa Peter                    RMF

Group 2 Hair dressing and Beauty Therapy

Members were:

1. Nakyagaba Teddy                         RMF
2. Byamungu Kitsa Adolph                RMF
3. Akello Scovia                                 RMF

 Group 3: Tailoring and Garment Cutting
 Members were:

1. Mwaka Simon                               RMF
2. Namatovu Maxensia                     RMF
3. Muhindo Geofrey                          RMF
4. Adam Shamilah                             OPM

 
In order to guide the interviewing process, 10 guiding questions were outlined and they were used as questions to the applicants who turned up for the interviews.The questions were mainly directed to establish that the interviewed are really interested in what they are choosing to do.

1. Tell us about yourself
2. What course are you applying for?
3. Why did you choose to come to Panyadoli Vocational Training Institute?
4. Why are you interested in this course?
5. What are your plans after the course?
6. What do you expect PVTI to do for you during and after the course?
7. If given a chance/place at the institute are you ready to attend all days of the training without missing even a day
8. If admitted at the institute, are you ready to follow all the rules and regulations as set by the institution?
9. What problems do you foresee to happen during the period of the training?
10. Would you recommend the institute to any of your relatives or friend?

 
A result compilation sheet was used to guide the interviewing panel compile the responses from the interview respondents. Each question carried 10% and all the 10 questions totaled to 100%.  

Orientation

25th May 2015 was the orientation day. The day’s program involved talking to the enrolled trainees as a group, introducing them to the institutions staff, the rules and regulations of the institution, the boundaries of the institution and their responsibilities as trainees. They were then separated into their individual departments to which the departmental curriculum was introduced and explained to them. All the day’s activities aimed at tuning the newly enrolled trainees to embrace the institutions program which demands commitment from both the instructors and the trainees for time and practice.
 Institutional training

The institutional training for all departments was flagged off on Tuesday 26th May 2015 after the orientation. Currently, all departments have started handling details contained in module one and in one to two weeks all the departments would have moved to module two.

A Visit by the African Union Mission

On Wednesday 20^th May 2015, a delegation from the African Union visited Panyadoli Vocational Training Institute; the aim of their visit was to interact and update themselves on ongoing activities at the settlement. They were accompanied by the Settlement Commandant, the Head of Team UNHCR, and other representatives from the Implementing Partners and the (Refugee Welfare Council three) RWCIII representatives.  During their visit, they went through all the departments and they were informed about the various departmental activities, the achievements and challenges. 

• Okot completed his training in BCP March 2015 and so far he was employed at different construction sites and currently he was contracted by the Institute to make bricks for the trainees.
• Mary completed her training in 2012 as a tailor, she has a shop and besides tailoring, she sells materials and also deals in selling beans to Juba and to other institutions like schools.
• Scovia completed her training in 2013 and she was given a startup kit in a group, but as of now she has been able to buy her own and runs her salon business.

The visit occurred during the time of interviews and it was interesting when the commissioners strategically placed themselves for interviews and ranked the interviewers as highly professional

Seconded instructors from South Sudan to PVTI

Three staff were seconded by the Directorate of Vocational Training (DVT) at the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development (MoLPSHRD) to PVTI. These include Mr. Otim Kitara Edwin for the BCP department, Mr. Peter John Baptist for the CJ department and Miss Abalo Grace for the TGC department. These effectively arrived on Saturday 30^th May 2015 and begun the tasks assigned to them of instructing the trainees on 1^st June. They were introduced to the rest of the staff during a staff meeting and were shown around the Institution through a departmental visit arrangement to every department.