Vocation

One of the goals of Kibaale Community Schools is to lift the status of our vocational skills program in the eyes of the students, parents/guardians and community.  The common perception here is that vocational training programs are for students who are ‘failures’ in school.  Over the years it has been a challenge to persuade students who finish in our primary school to consider taking the vocational route in our Kibaale Community Vocational Training Centre.  Yet many students have the aptitude for hands-on work such as tailoring, carpentry and baking/cooking and can earn a living with these skills to support themselves and their families.  We try to help the students understand the real meaning of ‘vocation’ (calling from God.)

Our teachers are committed to helping these students, and they work hard to build relationships with them and provide Christian discipleship training through daily Bible teaching times and personal mentoring.  They encourage students to understand that they have been blessed with abilities in practical sills that can be used for God’s service and to bless others, just as many men and women were “filled with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship” (Exodus 35:31) in the building of the Old Testament tabernacle.

Many of our primary school students enter school when they are older than 6 years of age and miss whole school terms or years because of family issues, ill health, learning problems, etc.  Sometimes by the time they are ready to begin secondary school they are 16 or 17 years old and it is a long road ahead before they can complete secondary school and go on for further career training.  We also enrol students from the surrounding community who have not even finish primary school for one reason or another.

The 2-year vocational training program is a very good option for these students, especially since we connected with the Directorate for Industrial Training office in Kampala last year and arranged for external examiners to come to the school in November and evaluate students in theory and practical skills.  Students who passed these examinations were awarded government certificates that open doors for employment and further training.

We offer three courses at the moment: tailoring, carpentry, and catering and hotel management.  Next year we hope to reinstate the brick laying and construction course that was offered a few years ago.

This year we hired an English instructor to help the vocational students improve their oral and written English.  Most of these students find the theory exams very challenging because they are written in English, their second language.  Improved English skills help them as they enter the world of work as well.

One of our former vocational students has been working for a few years now as the right hand man to our site manager at Kibaale Community Centre.  He is an inspiration to our students, and is a trusted worker who has blessed us all!