Africa-Press – Namibia. THE minister of higher education, training and innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi, has challenged technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates to strive towards self-employment as institutions will not be able to hire all of them.
She made these remarks on Tuesday during a speech read on her behalf by Zambezi regional governor Lawrence Sampofu during the fifth Zambezi Vocational Training Centre graduation at Katima Mulilo.
More than 302 students graduated in various fields, namely crop production, farm machinery, bricklaying and plastering, clothing production, hospitality and tourism, joinery and cabinetmaking, office administration, plumbing and pipe fitting, and weldingand metal fabrication.
Kandjii-Murangi said vocational training graduates are equipped with work-ready skills, unlike teacher graduates who need to secure employment at a school to work.
“An unemployed plumbing graduate, on the other hand, does not require an employment contract to start rendering services and generate an income. Technically inclined people also tend to be independent thinkers and highly driven individuals.
“You now have the chance to do your part in sharing the skills you acquired and contribute to the economic growth of our country,” she said.
Kandjii-Murangi said Namibia aims to have a TVET system which can respond to industrial needs, as well as to the unemployment challenge.
“The impact of unemployment and underemployment in a highly segmented Namibian labour market continues to impede our economic development as a country,” she said.
She revealed that the Zambezi Vocational Training Centre recently got a physical infrastructure expansion worth N$60 million, which resulted in the construction of a 1 000-capacity multipurpose hall, new bulk stores, and a new access gate which enhances campus security.
She said new training workshops in the occupational areas of electrical general, auto-mechanics, and bricklaying and plastering were also constructed, and a new hostel block to accommodate 80 trainees was also constructed among other renovations at the premises.
Sampofu urged residents not to disregard vocational education training, and urged parents to support their children when they want to study at TVET centres.
“Industrialised countries exist because of vocational education and training graduates. Vocational education and training is a very important industry in the development of any country,” he said.
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