Africa-Press – Eswatini. The government of Taiwan has sponsored 100 Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) students from 2019 to 2022.
Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ching-Lin Tsuei, speaking on Friday at ECOT’s 21st graduation ceremony held at the Mbabane Alliance church, said Taipei and other cities in his country had welcomed many students from Eswatini to study in diverse fields such as information, communication and technology (ICT), agriculture, management and medicine.
He wished the 1 144 graduating students well and advised them to positively contribute to the society.
“Let me take the opportunity to congratulate today’s graduates. You have just completed a critical stage in your life. People with skills like yours drive innovation, entrepreneurship and dynamism. This is a milestone we are all delighted to recognise, and honour on this happy day,” Tsuei said.
unrest
Tsuei stated that the graduation was hard-won as the students learnt under the COVID-19 pandemic and the political unrest that unravelled during their study.
He said Eswatini and Taiwan were enjoying more than five decades of partnership, whereby at the epitome was progress and development.
“Our cooperation has continued to impact positively in areas such vocational training, public health medicine, women’s empowerment, and agricultural technology. As close friends, we share similar goals for the future.
We both care deeply about young people and their education, which forms the bedrock of any society. Taiwan prides itself in supporting the youth of Eswatini who are by far the pride of this nation as they constitute about 70 per cent of the population,” Tsuei said.
Tsuei said their focus on ECOT was because Taiwan believed that technical qualifications were essential for the growing economy of Eswatini.
“This college has been close to the embassy’s heart as one of our proudest initiatives by the Taiwan Technical Mission. ECOT benefitted from the ‘Technical and Vocational Education and Training Project’ which focuses on equipping young people with skills to make a living,” he said.
Tsuei said the project had tremendous impact as it saw the electrical engineering, ICT, hospitality and tourism laboratories and workshops of ECOT being refurbished with the relevant equipment.
He said the project set up laboratories for electrical engineering programmable logic controller, industrial automation control and electronics.
For ICT, a computer laboratory with data and networking training equipment was set up.
Tsuei said the Taiwan government was also happy to see the demo kitchens being furnished with relevant equipment to boost the hospitality and tourism department.
He said the project also sent to Taiwan four ECOT lecturers to pursue their masters’ degrees while six others benefitted from short-term training courses, whereby they were locally trained by Taiwan experts.
institution
“I must say the TVET Project is still continuing with its mandate and improving more departments within this institution and has further established an up-skilling and lifelong training centre which has benefitted a number of Emaswati. With that said, I would also applaud the lectures, parents and all stakeholders here today for supporting these young people throughout their academic journey,” he said.
Graduates were brave – ECOT Principal
Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) principal Nomcebo Nhlengetfwa has said the 1144 graduates were brave.
This, she said, was because they faced serious challenges during their study, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the civil unrest that grounded the nation.
“They have persevered through the vicious COVID-19 era, where face to face learning was not possible for some time. Techno-phobia also affected us adversely as we could not successfully scaffold to e-learning. This resulted in the evident gap in training, thus we had no completing class in 2021,” she said.
ECOT saw 494 females graduating from the institution against 659 males across the three cohorts of 2020, 2022 and 2023.
For the 2020 stream, 365 students graduated while 394 and 385 graduated for 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Nhlengetfwa said the class of 2023 had 77 students who were fully sponsored by the Republic of China (Taiwan) president Tsai Ing-wen during her visit to the country in 2018.
“These students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and they put in a lot of effort in their studies,” she said.
Nhlengetfwa said she was of the view that technology-driven and supported technical and vocational education and training (TVETs) enable Eswatini to attain its vision of becoming a first world country.
She thanked Taiwan that for donating up-to-date equipment and technologies which were still very expensive.
“This donation enabled the college to produce graduates trained in the latest technologies which are relevant to the employment sector. As an institution, we really appreciate all the assistance that we received from (ROC) Taiwan and we applaud our government for maintaining relations with Taiwan,” she said.
Meanwhile, Director of Education Dr Ntombenhle Dlamini, who represented the minister, Owen Nxumalo said TVETs were well encapsulated in the Education Sector Policy.
She said the policy was a road-map for all programmes and activities in the ministry executed by various departments.
She said within the sub-sectors, TVETs were taken as ‘one of the main pillars that contribute positively to economic development in the Kingdom.’
quality
“One of the goals of the ministry is improvement of educational quality and student learning at all levels, as outlined in our Multi-Year Action Plan (2022 to 2025).
Therefore, we will ensure that every effort is made and adequate support is mobilised to ensure the provision of quality relevant education and training, and this includes support to TVET institutions like ECOT,” Dr Dlamini said.
She stated that government realised that the provision of relevant training material and tools that enhance training capacity at ECOT was paramount.
“As such we continue to explore ways and means to upgrade ECOT to offer degree TVET programmes. The ministry also aims to align all TVET programmes, such that there is clear articulation and progression from the lowest to the highest level. This will assist in the transfer of credits from the various training centres to institutions like ECOT so that Emaswati can upgrade their skills,” she said.
ECOT graduates encouraged to be employers
Director of Education Dr Ntombenhle Dlamini urged graduates to create jobs and be employers.
Dlamini, who represented the minister, said the graduates ought to make use of finance structures availed within government structures to assist youth enterprise development.
“It is gratifying to note that ECOT offers entrepreneurship in their curriculum. We have observed that small and medium enterprises uplift the economy and these graduates will make a positive contribution to the Kingdom.
This paradigm shift from seeking employment to job-creation is what the Kingdom requires at this time. I, therefore, urge you graduands to make use of finance structures availed within government to assist youth enterprise development.
I further urge the students still undergoing training at ECOT to focus of on how to become a cut above the rest in the sphere of entrepreneurs,” Dr Dlamini said.
Dr Dlamini added that the ministry of education and training was now in a quest to alleviate poverty through increased access to education and training, especially in TVET.
She, therefore, appealed for the commitment to improve the TVET sector in the country and even influence it beyond the borders.
What’s in a name?
A student who graduated with flying colours had a hard time explaining the meaning of her name.
Sehlukengani S Mkhwanazi who graduated with a pass with credit for her Diploma in Human Resources Management, was asked by this reporter if she knew the meaning of her name to which she said she did not.
Sehlukengani, a graduate from the class of 2023 from Mafutseni said she was the last born of five girls.
parents
“I guess it is because I am the last born. My parents might have asked what was different with them in that they had all girls. I think they were like, ‘this one is going to show the world or everyone as to how different the Mkhwanazis are,” she said.
Sehlukengani’s mother, said marriage she had six children, and her first two children were females were followed by a male.
However, the male child died. She also said the rest of the other three children were female.
born
“When I had my last born child, my in-laws were hoping for a male child. It was then that I told my in-laws that I cannot change creation and that I would accept any gender. I then asked them of what was the difference of the last born than the other girls that I have given birth to,” she said.
The mother said her daughter was indeed different from the others. For starters, she said she was the last born. She also said it was the first time attending to Sehlukengani’s graduation.
The mother said Sehlukengani was a very humble, respectful and well-mannered woman.
clubbing
“She does not behave like the 2000s as she does not even go clubbing. Her dwelling place is the church,” the mother said.
She also said the name would now be put to a test as Sehlukengani would not struggle to get a job or settle in her career path.
She said Sehlukengani had guidance from God before taking the course on human resources management which she said was divine thing.
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