Africa-Press – Botswana. Fifty-one people have graduated from Ipelegeng Skill Development Component under the Serowe District Council.
Speaking during a graduation ceremony recently Deputy Council Secretary, Ms Basipo Madandume shared that the initiative allowed participants to complete their training in various trades, including bricklaying and plastering, plumbing, electrical work, tiling, carpentry, and painting.
The graduates comprised two village development committees (VDCs); Thataganyane and Makala that received certificates of skills development initiative overseen by the Serowe District Council, Botswana National Productivity Centre, and Construction Industries Trust Fund. Moreover, the trained participants completed two LA2 houses for the VDC.
Ms Madandume praised the graduates and encouraged them to claim their positions boldly in the reality of unemployment. To this end, she emphasised the importance of the skills, pointing that they were skilled and that sustainable livelihoods would be achieved through their crafts.
For his part, one of the graduates, Mr Gabriel Baokame from the carpentry trade, praised the programme, stating that it was a blessing for the unemployed that lacked skills to earn a living. He mentioned that as a beneficiary, he was well-equipped with both practical and theoretical skills to deliver products to customers’ satisfaction.
“The training I received, coupled with the tools and equipment I have would set me apart in the industry. As a 22-year-old, I now look forward to the future because I know that I will never go to bed hungry with the skills I possess; I am definitely going to be a success story,” he said.
He called upon graduates to work in teams, as this will benefit them more, citing that with teamwork, they may even establish construction businesses and build turnkey projects like those they have successfully completed during training.
He further thanked the programme coordinators for the starter package consisting of the tools of the trade needed by graduates to carry out projects, saying that with equipment, they could now actively start projects without the challenge of lacking capital to procure tools.
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