Paul Terran Lugobe, a student at the Hotel and Tourism Training College (HTTC) Jinja has won a Medal of Excellence in Culinary Arts at the 48th WorldSkills International Competition in Shanghai, China placing him among the world’s best in his trade.
The Medal of Excellence recognizes competitors who demonstrate a world class standard in their skill.
Lugobe, 21, is one of the more than 1,400 competitors from nearly 70 countries and regions who took part in 64 skills categories at the competition, held from 22 to 27 September. The medals were presented at the closing ceremony at the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Center.
“Participating in the WorldSkills competition in Shanghai has been a very eye-opening experience. There is a lot I have learned,” Lugobe said.
Other Ugandan competitors at this global stage for skills included; welder Elizabeth Mirabel Mutoro of Arua Technical Institute and nursing competitor Flavia Nakaayi of Kabale Institute of Comprehensive Nursing.
Uganda is an associate member of WorldSkills International, a status that limits it to only three skills, in a competition that offers over 64 skills categories.
Uganda’s participation in the WorldSkills competition is a long policy effort, according to Dr Safinah Kisu Museene, Commissioner for Health Education and Training in the Ministry of Education and Sports and WorldSkills Uganda’s Official Delegate.
Dr Safinah traced the country’s path through years of attempts to shift public perception towards technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
“We had a perception of appreciating higher education compared to TVET,” she said.
Reform started with the BTVET Act of 2008, which she said “did not change us.” The government then adopted the Skilling Uganda strategy, aimed at improving perception, emphasising competency-based training and making TVET flexible. “But still could not move until 2018 when we appreciated that we needed to join WorldSkills,” Museene said. Uganda joined WorldSkills International in 2019, and according to Museene, Shanghai is the third time the country has taken participants to WorldSkills competitions.
The benefit to the country, she said, goes beyond medals.
“When we participate in skills competitions and attend skills conferences, we are able to appreciate how standards are set, and then we use those standards back home in Uganda to improve on our curriculum, to improve on the competence of our instructors and experts,” she said.
Uganda’s participation in Shanghai extended beyond the competition floor. Museene said the country sent more than 12 experts to the skills conference alongside competitors in welding, health, and cooking, tourism and hospitality. “They inform curriculum development and design, they inform training, especially hands-on,” she said. “We put emphasis on competency-based training and education. This also informs assessment and regulation.”
That link between the competition and the classroom is where Lugobe’s medal of excellence may matter most. His result gives Uganda’s TVET sector evidence that a student of a technical and vocational training college can meet an international standard. It also reaches the audience the reforms have struggled to persuade: young Ugandans weighing technical training against a university degree.
Lugobe addressed them directly. “Skills bring opportunities, skills bring income for people, and all the young people out there in Uganda should embrace skills,” he said.
To anyone having second thoughts about technical and vocational education, Lugobe’s advice was direct: “Go for it.” He described his own path as proof. “Two years ago, I didn’t know I would be in Shanghai China, participating and representing my country but here I am now,” he said. “Learn that skill, perfect that skill, and it will take you places.”
He said his time in Shanghai also showed him how far a culinary skill can travel. “I was talking to one of the chefs from Spain, and he told me that with this skill, you can work anywhere in the world,” Lugobe said. The chef, he explained, had worked in France, UK, Japan and China. “So, what stops us from doing the same and moving in the same footsteps.”
The competition also gave him a peer group making friends from all around the world.
“I made new friendships from around the world: from Canada, Ireland, Latvia, Russia, Finland, and so many other countries. These are young people who are my age, 21 years but doing incredible things. And I believe that the connections made today will shape our futures tomorrow,” Lugobe said.
Lugobe is optimistic that Uganda will shine again on the global stage for skills in 2028 when the contest heads to Japan.
“Today it was me in Shanghai, tomorrow it could be another young lady or gentleman representing Uganda. It will be nice to have Uganda represented again.”
