Zombo, (UG):- The management of Ora Technical Institute – Warr in Zombo District has raised alarm over the staffing gaps that is negatively affecting the delivery of high-quality technical and vocational skilling programs at the institute.
The institute which recently held its first graduation offers five courses in Plumbing, Automotive Mechanics, Building Construction, Electrical Installation and Fashion and Design hence the inevitable beating costs of hiring instructors and non-instructors to bridge the human resource gaps of the institution.
Ora Technical Institute which has more than 200 trainees has only 11 instructors and 10 non-instructors substantively appointed by the government and also 12 other instructors and 9 non-instructors being shouldered by the Board of Governors on local payment terms based on tuition collections from the trainees.
Managers of the institution from the deepest of their hearts told DailyExpress how they wrote to the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Department in charge of Technical and vocational education about the inadequate human resources and other infrastructural challenges they are facing.
Among these was the establishment of state-of-the-art workshops for all the five courses, dormitories for the girls and facelift for staff Quarters but most responses that trickled in pointed to the non-existence or inadequate wage bill for the case of staffing the institute to the brim.
During an Exclusive interview with DailyExpress, Mr Booker Okoda, the institute Principal acknowledged the challenges posed by the staffing gaps and expressed optimism given the intervention of the board of Governors in hiring instructors locally.
“The staffing gap is great the standard which we should have had is each course like building construction should have 1 senior instructor,1 principal instructor and 3 assistant instructors but you will find that we have 2 assistant instructors to manage two classes the ceiling is too wide and the government has failed to bridge that gap,” Mr Okoda iterated during an exclusive interview.
He added; “We have engaged ministry and our line department you find that the wage bill is not there or is not enough that’s why we engaged the Board of Governors to locally employ instructors so that we can carry on with our training.”
Ora Technical Institute -Warr which was founded by the Roman Catholic Church in 1982 now in addition to the five national certificate courses also offers short vocational courses in Road construction and maintenance, Topography and land survey with support from the World Bank project Uganda Skills Development program.
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