Ms. Jane Barekye, the State House Comptroller, has informed beneficiaries of the Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Girl/Boy Child (PISGBC) programme that the skills they have gained via training would help to alter their life if they apply them properly.
She stated that success in life is determined not just by university degrees but also by talents.
Ms. Barekye made the claim on Wednesday, September 20th, 2023, when students at Luzira Skilling Center demonstrated the things they were able to create throughout their six months of free skills training. The PISGBC programme comprises nine (9) skilling facilities located across Kampala’s five (5) divisions.
The State House Comptroller said that the trainees’ skills are practical tools that would help them become effective citizens.
Ms. Barekye went on to say that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was inspired to start the project in order to enable less educated and poor youngsters in Kampala get skills that will help them overcome the unemployment crisis.
Ms. Barekye promised to raise the pay of the center’s instructors as a show of appreciation for their hard work.
Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons Service, praised President Museveni for establishing the skilling initiative, which he claimed had altered the lives of thousands of poor kids in Kampala.
“I had no idea it would turn out this way when I agreed to let this program use the Luzira Prisons premises.” “I’m so humbled that I’m going to instruct my Commissioner-Industries, Rehabilitation, and Planning to come and see the progress,” Dr. Byabashaija stated.
He also committed to continue providing space and utilities to the facility.
Dr. Byabashaija, on the other hand, warned the trainees not to commit crimes if they don’t want to be “guests” in prisons.
“Being a prisoner here is not easy. “We had our Minister as a guest the other day,” he continued.
Dr. Faith Katana Mirembe, the project’s Special Presidential Assistant for Education and Skilling, told the State House Comptroller that each project coin is being put to good use to guarantee that the initiative’s aim is met.
She also counseled the trainees to have confidence in God and to refrain from engaging in immoral activities that would divert them from being good citizens.
The managers of the Luzira Skilling Center, Ms. Athieno Joyce and Ms. Kamulegeya Viola, stated that they recruited 793 trainees, 93 males and 700 girls. They also informed the audience that the recipients received six months of training in seven occupational areas, including bakery, hairdressing, tailoring, knitting, embroidery, shoe manufacturing, and weaving.
Lowino Kevin, 27, one of the recipients, told the audience that she was raised by an impoverished single mother. She said that she dropped out of school in 2014, married two years later, and gave birth to three children, including twins.
Lowino went on to say that her husband abandoned her and she was forced to raise her children alone.
She described her life as a shambles before she entered the skilling program.
Lowino, who completed the embroidery course, is now ready to create garments for a livelihood.
Ms. Aminah Lukanga, Kampala Resident City Commissioner, performer Bebe Cool, and event organizer Balaam Barugahara were among those who attended the occasion.
