National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) is Uganda’s largest water authority providing potable water and sewerage services in urban towns entrusted to it by the Government on a commercial and financially viable basis.
The NWSC corporate plan 2021-2024 which has synergies with the National Development Plan III (2021-2025) has prioritized skilling and workforce development under the Strategic Priority Area (SPA3 & 5), these are directly linked to employee capacity development and sustainability of the organization.
The Corporation ensures that value-adding training for its Staff is conducted both internally and externally, with the aim of imparting relevant knowledge and skills to enhance productivity and improve service delivery within the sector. Key among the trainings undertaken include; reskilling and retooling technicians and artisan staff, through vocational skills training and development, Mind-set change training, and re-fresher performance based training for the various professionals.
The training is implemented through the external service unit in partnership with the Government of Uganda, and other Development Partners. In addition, the Corporation has established a Vocational Skills Development Facility (VSDF) in Gaba and has established regional training hubs to cater to the capacity development needs of its staff across the country. Preparations are in the advanced stages for NWSC to host the Africa Water and Sanitation Academy which will be a centre of excellence for capacity development in the water and sanitation sector across Africa.
Vocational Training
The journey of re–skilling and retooling NWSC staff through vocational skills development started in April 2013. So far over 1500 staff have been trained at the Vocational Skills Development Facility (VSDF) in Gaba. The VSDF offers 11 assessment and training packages accredited by the Directorate of Training at the Ministry of Education and Sports. Four graduation ceremonies have so far been held since inception, that is, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Due to covid19 pandemic, no graduations were held in 2020 and 2021.
Post Graduate Training
In a quest to secure the future sustainability of NWSC and improvie service delivery to Ugandans, NWSC has signed two (2) MoUs with Water Education & Development Centre (WEDC) Loughborough University UK and Institute of Water Education (IHE) Netherlands to sponsor its staff to acquire Masters degrees from the two prestigious institutions.
So far Nineteen (19) staff competitively selected and sponsored by NWSC have completed and graduated with MSc degrees in Water & Waste Engineering as well as Water and Environmental Management from Loughborough University and Five (5) staff have acquired MSc in Sanitation from IHE Netherlands. The studies are done through a combination of in-person training (in both UK and Uganda) and self-study distance learning.
In-House Staff Training
The corporation ensures that value-adding training is conducted with the view of imparting relevant knowledge and skills aimed at enhancing staff productivity. The corporation conducts refresher courses in leadership and management related topics to all Managers as a way of improving staff productivity. The onset of Covid-19 greatly affected the implementation of the NWSC training plans. This new reality compelled the NWSC to adopt e-learning as a new and innovative way of delivering training.
The corporation has also secured partnerships with government and private institutions facilitating staff to attend external training courses locally and internationally.
Alongside the above, NWSC has a robust mentorship and coaching program that is conducted all year round. This program has continued to promote employee engagement, leadership development and succession from within.
