Advert for Education Progrems:

The Hostel is having TV & DVD
The institute offers FREE Computer Introduction Course starting from November 2007

News up-date

Finance.
New budgets embrace the future

The new budget for 2007-08 was earlier this month approved by the institute board. The budget includes savings for depreciation, construction of classrooms and workshops, Building maintenance, and staff training.

The main objective of the budget is to maintain and plan for renewing our assets through depreciation account and money for Building Maintenance. Furthermore the budget address the rapid increasing number of trainees and general growth of the institute by building three new classrooms, two new offices, one new ME workshop and a Tailoring & hairdressing workshop and rebuild the walls of the joinery shop.

Left is St.Joseph's Garage. The garage is currently being painted in order to preserve the wood work

Also, funds has been allocated for HRD where we are aiming at the supporting the top management in further studies in order to build capacities to deal with the institutes general and rapid development.

The funds allocated for class rooms and offices construction only include the brick walls because we do not have sufficient funds for floor, windows and doors, ceiling, wiring etc However, a proposal for full funding of the classroom/office block has been send to one of our development partners and we are confident that they will consider the proposal.

We keep in mind that we will need at least 6 more classrooms by February 2009 in order to accommodate all the 3 x 3 years of Government supported Juniors under UPPET.

A classrooms without floor, ceilings, windows and doors are poor conditions for training and it will affect the academic standards. Therefore more proposals be developed and send to potential donors.

Below is theSite Plan of proposed sites for Mech.
Engineering workshop and the site for the new classroom/office block

Construction of 2 new workshops confirmed by IP-BTVET

The institute has been selected for the third phase of Investment Program-BTVET. The program has today confirmed that they will construct 2 new workshops for mechanical engineering and tailoring/hairdressing respectively.

Furthermore, they have confirmed that at least the tailoring/hair dressing workshop will be fully equipped. The program is also expected to donate other equipments such as an internet café and a metal lathe for ME.

Academics.
Reaching for the sky

We are still waiting for the results from the June/July exams, but we expect improvements from the last year’s results.

The institute is confident that the institute’s goals will be reached. The goals are for a minimum of 50% of our candidates should at least pass the exams this year and that number should increase to 75% by 2009. We are confident that the improvements in terms of staff, materials and class monitoring should get us close to our goal. We pledge to our students/costumers to pursue and reach that goal.

The total no of students is as follows:

	Apprentice	Junior 1	Craft 1	Craft 2	Total
TGC	0	15	0	0	15
MVM	34	23	57	28	143
ME	2	0	19	10	31
BCP	10	10	19	11	50
C&J	10	0	4	5	19
EI	0	0	23	8	31
Total	56	48	122	62	288

We expect to receive another 60 junior students on the UPPET program in February 2008 and another 60 in 2009. Furthermore, we plan to start a 6 month ICT course early next year whereby we estimate the total number of trainees at the institute to reach 450 by February 2009.

Discipline
A chain is as strong as the weakest link

Improved lesson monitoring and our offer of a free term has improved the disipline at the institute. Unfortunately the free term seemed to benefit some students as they deceived their parents and bourght mobile phones.

Knowing our owne institute and considering incidents at other institutions, the biggest challenge for our institute and for education in Uganda at large is in-discipline. The RDC for Kabarole said: “students do not burn their dorm’ just because of incidents at a disco….”

Please understand the term “discipline” as something, which involve the intyre institute, not just the students. All must do what we are supposed to do whether we are members of the Board, students or instructors.

Personnel
The more the merrier

The institute has now about 95 employees attached on various terms. In general they are committed and well skilled for their respective duties.

As mentioned earlier the institute plans to continuously develop the human recourse through internal and external training. Currently the institute has one MVM technician for a one year course in Germany and two from ME has just returned Austria for a 5 weeks course. One instructor is being sponsored for a CTTE while two instructors are on a TOT course.

On the right is Mr. Deo Baguma during the training at the institute's Partner institution LBS-Neunkirchen, Austria

All the trainings are very beneficial for our Institute, but at times the trainings have been bringing some challenges due to short notices and insufficient information. However UGAPRIVI was requested , by the principal, to improvement the notice and describtions in order for us to maximize our gain.

The HR development is seen as an incentive to our employees as their remuneration in general is low and due to the fact that we cannot afford to provide all the trainings we wish. However, we have budgeted for upgrading the top management in the coming year.

The post as principal has been advertised and there are 9 applicants for the post. The interviewes vill conducted on the 24^th October. The a handover is expected within this year. The out-going principal will take on new duties as organizational advisor.

The out-going Principal says "Thanks to all students, Staff, the Board, the Diocese, national and international development partners for the joint efforts, which has borne its fruits. St. Joseph's Technical Institute, now has more students, more diverse programs and the institute is a well known and attractive institution. Also new challenges has come, but by standing and acting united and disiplined we shall be even more successful in the future."

Principals letter to the parents, guardians and sponsors of Junior Craft students.

Dear all,
I thank you for the cooperation over the last term, the second term for our Junior Craft students. The term has been peaceful and running well with only minor problems.

The discipline of the students and the cooperation between staff and students is good and conducive to students training and the institute’s development. We have all appreciated the opening of the new Tailoring department, as the improved gender balance has up-lifted the general environment of the institute at large.

Please, together with this letter receive your student’s report card and the Bank slip. On the report card you can follow the performance of your student and the bank slip is for payment of the parents contributions as per the decision of the PTA. The fee structure is as follows:

Junior Craft (private) 90.000/= + 2.500/= (bank charge) Total = 92.500/=

Junior Craft (UPPET) 22.000/= + 2.500/= (bank charge) Total = 24.500/=

Since the beginning of the year 2007 we have not yet received any funds from the Government towards the UPPET program. However, we hope to get the funds within this month so the program can continue un-interrupted. On that note we appreciate the contributions from our commercial sections: The Motor Vehicle Garage, The Carpentry & Joinery Workshop and the Mechanical Engineering Workshop.

In fact those workshop contributes more than 700.000/= to the training section per month. This contribution enables the institute to offer the best training possible.

The next term for the Junior Craft students will start on Monday the 17th September 2007.

N.B. Students who wish to sit for Trade Test Examination under DIT/Directorate of Industrial Training in conjunction with the Ministry Education and Sports are to pay additional 55,000/= for exam registration and administrative costs. The Trade Test is expected to be conducted in November 2007

Yours sincerely,


_______________________
Soren Christensen, Principal.

“Big” officials visits Annual Craft exams.

Visit by UNEB officials
Apart from regular visits from the UNEB scouts St. Joseph’s T I was honored by a visit by UNEB Secretary, Mr. Matthew Bukenya and Professor Lutalo Bosa. The two were guided around the campus by Deputy Principal Mr. Kiiza Francis.

The visitors said “we are very impressed and amazed by the magnitude of St. Joseph’s Technical Institute’s workshops, buildings, machines and equipment. A well organized place like this is rarely seen in Uganda”. Mr. Bukenya also advised the Principal to upgrade the institute to a college. The principal thanked Mr. Bukenya for the advice and continued “St. Joseph’s TI has more than 300 students at the moment. Students who would need Diploma courses has the opportunity to go to our “big brother”, UTC Kichwamba.

Craft Exams
This years Craft exams started on Friday the 22nd June 2007 with the official briefing. More than 50 students were present and received advice from UNEB’s area supervisor Mr Sam Byagweri, The Principal, Mr. Soren Christensen, The Dean of Studies, Mr. Kiiza BA Francis and a number of Heads of Department and Instructors.

Mr. Byagweri Sam encouraged the students to carefully study the dispatched rules and regulations. He also reminded that the conduct of the exercise would be strict, because exams are a serious matter, which will have impact on the lives of the candidates.

Full of Gods spirit and good food
On Sunday the 24th the institute invited all candidates and instructors to mass in Virika Cathedral followed by a joint lunch at the institute campus, Kinyamasika. The purpose was for the institute to contribute to the best outcome of the exams and at the same time wish the candidates’ good luck.

Many candidates and instructors attended the mass and even more attended the lunch. The institute was happy to announce that there was enough food and drinks for all to get satisfied. The Dean of Studies proposed that this function should be turned in to a tradition, which could improve the performance of the candidates and the institute at large.

Full of Gods spirit and good food the participants departed the institute at about 4.00 pm. Ready to take on the next days exams papers.

The exams ended on the 6th of July with the 40 hours Mechanical Engineering practical exam. The Instructors who had a chance to study the exam papers after the respective exams are all optimistic that the majority of the candidates will pass.

Trades & Methodology

At SJTI we emphasize on producing skilled crafts-persons who have options for both employment, and further studies. As one example; the institute has adjusted the official curriculum to contain 10-20% more practical lessons. The approach has improved both practical skills and theoretical knowledge of the students.

SJTI is permanently offering courses in the following fields:

• Mechanical Engineering

• Electrical Installation

• Carpentry & Joinery

• Bricklaying &

Concrete Practice

• Tailoring (NEW!!!)

• Motor Vehicle Mechanich

Training levels.

Training for all.

The training is conducted on various levels. Following you will find a description of the most common courses, which summarizes some of the most important issues.

Apprenticeships both “standard, - or workshop” apprenticeships are custom-made courses, developed according to need and wish. Currently the apprenticeships are conducted in Swahili, Runyakitara or English and we have trained Ugandans, Kenyans, and Congolese.

We do recommend to start with an Apprenticeship course followed a Junior/Craft Course. The combination leads to a well-skilled crafts person who can both work and go for further studies.

“Workshop-Apprenticeship” is for students with any, - or no educational background. The course takes 6-12 months and is having a very practical approach in the workshop or on site. The successful apprentice is awarded an internal certificate. Furthermore, The apprentice can sit for Directorate of Industrial Training’s “Trade Test” and be certified accordingly.

“Standard Apprenticeship” is for students with primary 7 or more. The course normally takes 6-12 months and is having a 50 % practical work and 50 % theory. The successful apprentice is awarded an internal certificate. Furthermore, The apprentice can sit for Directorate of Industrial Training’s “Trade Test” and be certified accordingly.

Junior Craft Course is for students with a PLE (P.7). The course takes 3 years of 3 terms and is certified by UNEB. The Junior Craft Certificates gives access to the Craft Course.

Craft Course is for students with S.4 or a Junior Craft Certificate. The course takes 2 years of 3 terms. The craft course is examined by Uganda National Examination Board and certified accordingly. The Craft Certificate gives access to further studies such as; Technical Colleges and Universities.

Short courses, In-service training & Refresher courses

Costume-made courses are developed according to the need of respective clients. The institute develops courses and advertises accordingly, but we also have companies, NGOs and individuals who request us to develop courses according to their specific need.

Currently the institute is offering short courses in e.g. Solar Photovoltaic, Vehicle Maintenance for vehicle owners & drivers, and Curriculum & syllabi interpretation for trainers.

Courses outside our established trades are also available. SJTI is affiliated with external facilitators and recourse personnel who are engaged when needed. This has been done successfully with e.g. Up-grading courses for tailors and computer science courses.