Background of COWA Vocational Training Centre Nsambya

COWA Centenary Vocational School`s Management

COWA CVTS is one of the Programmes of Companionship of Works Association (COWA) and is managed by the organization.The School’s Organogramme begins with the broader structure of COWA whose membership consists of the following categories:

Founder members.
Full members.
Associate members.
Honorary members.

COWA Board of Directors (BOD) is composed of 5 members headed by the Chairperson. These are the Policy makers and play mainly the advisory role to the School’s Management Team. They monitor the implementation of activities in accordance with the approved Budget and work plans. The other two office bearers on the BOD are the Secretary and the Treasurer. COWA BODs are assisted by two Advisers.

At the apex of the Organisational Structure is the General Assembly. This is constituted by the above-mentioned members. (There are 8 females who participate in the General Assembly meetings).

• The Management Team of COWA CVTS comprises the Principal, Deputy Principal; Training manager; Head of Production Unit; Finance manager and Head of ICT Department. (There are 5 female in the management committee against only 1 male ).

• The number of employees of COWA CVTS is 20. (15 females and 5 males.12 are with full term contracts while 8 others are casual employees). Out of these, 10 are Instructors while 3 are in the Administration and 7 are

Support Staff.

Who we are

COWA CVTS was founded in 1992 by a Catholic Priest – Rev. Fr. Steve Collins of the Missionary of Africa. It was founded to address the needs of the HIV / AIDS girl orphans who were left without skills or possibility to continue with academic education after the death of their parents. Today, however, the School is open to take in all orphans regardless of the nature of their parents’ deaths as well as other vulnerable youth from very difficult socio-economic backgrounds who are in need of our services.

COWA CVTS – Nsambya operates on the land leased by Kampala Archdiocese at Nsambya, Gogonya Zone 1 which shows the level of trust and appreciation the Church has for COWA’s work. “Improving the livelihood of less privileged members of society is the work of the Church and COWA is helping the Church to fulfil her duties” revealed His Eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala (Archbishop Emeritus) in one of the joint meetings between the Archdiocese team and COWA Board of Directors.

Legal Entity:

The School is registered with Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports (MoESTS) and Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT). It is also a member of Uganda Association of Private Vocational Institutions (UGAPRIVI) so enjoys the enefits of being a member of this Association. This includes capacity building of the Management and Instructors at various levels.

The Government of Uganda has endorsed the Business Technical Vocational Education and Training Act (BTVET Act 2008) enacted and officially launched in December 2008 as the law governing Vocational training in the country. This has brought Vocational training (BTVET) the value and priority it deserves in the Education Sector, therefore, its full promotion will lead to the realization of sustainable national development and achievement of target 1b of Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG), which is concerned with achieving full productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people – our target group being the youth.

Target 1c of the MDG addresses reducing the number of people who suffer from hunger and by providing our target group with the skills, making them employed, they do improve on their health and feeding habits which usually is having one meal (a very poor one or nothing at all) per day. Majority of them have that one meal at School and at home they sleep hungry till the next day when they come to School.

We have had cases of girls especially who fainted during the morning Assembly because they had to walk a long distance to School on an empty stomach. For this reason, we give priority to feeding our trainees with tea during morning break and lunch. The School is recommended to development partners by the Church Leaders, Local Authorities and Uganda Association of Private Training Institutions (UGAPRIVI) in acknowledgement of its contribution to the development of the Church and the Nation.

The Church Leaders of all Religious Denominations (Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal and Moslem) are fully involved in the identification of beneficiaries of our services. Our work is influenced by the Catholic value of love to all human persons indiscriminately. Our beneficiaries are from all ethnic groups (Western, Southern, Central, Northern and Eastern Regions of Uganda). COWA CVTS adheres to the Catholic Church’s principle of “Prayer and Work” (Ora et Labora) integrating prayer with work thus making the youth appreciate work as something that gives man dignity and true meaning to one’s life.

Our Vision

To bring out mature and fully empowered young women and men who have the capacity to make a difference in their lives and that of others in the surrounding communities.

Mission Statement

To promote integral development of the vulnerable youth in Uganda through vocational and life skills training.

Our Objectives

Empowerment of disadvantaged youth through vocational education and training for sustainable development and self reliance.
Developing the skills of the vulnerable Youth through short term modular Courses for fast self employment.
Equipping the vulnerable youth with entrepreneurial skills to enable them start and manage their own small scale Enterprises effectively after their Courses.
Building self – esteem and self – confidence in the vulnerable youth to enable them compete courageously in the labour market.
Networking and collaboration with local and International initiatives in the sector of Education and Skills Development, Health, Gender, Human / Legal Rights and Environmental Protection.

Core Values

Every human person has the right to live a decent and fruitful life regardless of his / her socio – economic status. The vulnerable children need empowerment to have hope of living a better and fruitful life, therefore our VALUES are based on:

Love for the human person
Love for Work
Integrity achieved through Honesty and Transparency
Commitment.

What we do and the methodology used

We provide two years training in the trades of Tailoring / Dressmaking, Catering / Hospitality accompanied with ICT (Computer skills), Entrepreneurship skills, trade related English and Mathematics to trainees to compete favorably in the labor market. Our training programme is not only limited to technical training but we also provide trainees with life skills to make them open to the reality of life.

80% of our training is practical based while theory covers 20% making it competence based in accordance with the Uganda Vocational Qualifications Framework (UVQF) Assessment Training Packages (ATPs).offer life skills programs.

Industrial Attachment: At the end of the second year trainees are attached to various Industries of their trades for Industrial Training / Internship which is an exposure to the world of work as well as job opportunities. Majority of our trainees have secured jobs in the same Company or Industry after their I.T. because they have performed very well and have impressed their supervisors.

Empowerment of the youth with technical and practical skills leads to employment while the life skills given simultaneously with the practical skills bring about personal growth and development as they make informed decisions. Hence, COWA-CVTS uses this holistic approach, all round training in its activities, for self reliance.

COWA Vocational Training Centre Nsambya Courses Offered

COWA Vocational Training Centre Nsambya Contact Address

COWA Vocational Training Centre Nsambya Admission Requirements

COWA Vocational Training Centre Funding

[button link=”https://ugfacts.net/vocational-schools-uganda/” size=”large” color=”orange”]List of Vocational Schools in Uganda[/button]