Raimo Ndapewa Naanda
I recent ly at tended the 111th International Labour Conference (ILC) which took place from 5-16 June 2023, at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The conference was attended by more than 186 nations represented by government, employer and worker representatives.
Various topics were discussed during the conference; including promoting quality apprenticeships, promoting gender equality at the workplace, application of standard and advancing social justice in our respective countries.
For the purpose of this article, my focus will be on the work of the committee I attended, which dealt with the issue on promoting quality apprenticeships.
Delegates at the conference adopted a new recommendation on quality apprenticeships.
The new labour standard aims to support “opportunities for people of all ages to skill, reskill and upskill continuously” in rapidly changing labour markets. It provides a clear definition of apprenticeships, specifies aspirational standards for quality apprenticeships, including rights and protection for apprentices.
I want to ask whether we in Namibia really understand the importance of apprenticeships and what value it could offer to any education system? Also, do we really appreciate how apprenticeships could contribute to the skills development of our nation?
As adopted by the conference, the term apprenticeship should be understood as “a form of education and training that is governed by an apprenticeship agreement that enables an apprentice to acquire the competencies required to work in an occupation through structured and remunerated or otherwise financially compensated training consisting of both on-the-job and off-the-job learning and that leads to a recognised qualification”.
Having been an apprentice myself during the early 1980s at the Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM), known as Namdeb, I enjoyed the opportunity offered to me to undergo training as an apprentice boilermaker. The training offered to us at the mine was of high quality, let alone the earnings we received while undergoing training. The benefits and protection as an apprentice at the time were gratifying.
After Namibia’s independence and with the reform of the education system, apprenticeship training was abolished in the country for unknown reasons. With the reform of the education system, one would have expected a better education and training system.
I am not arguing that the reform did not address the imbalances of the past apartheid regime, of course it did to some extent. What was more worrying to me was the abolishment of technical training at high schools such as Augustineum Secondary School, Windhoek Technical High School, Cornelius Goreseb High School, just to mention a few. One wonders as why such a decision was taken.
Conversely, I am profoundly happy that while some technical schools were abolished, some were converted into Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) such as Okakara VTC, Rundu VTC, Zambezi VTC and Valombola VTC. Today, we have more than seven public VTCs and over 97 private VTCs in the country with a combined 34 000 registered trainees.
This is compared to a combined 1 200 trainees registered at public VTC during the early 1990s. One has to applaud the government for such an achievement.
Recently, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture implemented a revised curriculum and decided to re-introduce pre-vocational subjects at some schools across the country. I want to applaud the ministry for such a move considering the importance of vocational training in a country such as Namibia.
I always, argue that many developed nations reached where they are today because of the importance they attached to vocational training. I am not saying academic education is not important. It is equally crucial for Namibia’s development to attain the Vision 2030 goals of making Namibia an industrialized nation.
Research informs us that in many developed countries, more than 70% of secondary school leavers prefer vocational training as opposed to academic education. There are of course various reasons for such choices.
In Namibia, we also see the trend of interest among the youth aspiring to pursue careers in vocational training, despite the limited access opportunities available to them. This is a welcome move and the government should be encouraged to do all it can to increase access to technical vocational education and training (TVET) programmes.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, launched a revised TVET policy during 2021.
The policy aspires to achieve the following objectives with the reform of the TVET system: a) Enhance quality and relevance of TVET programmes; and b) Increase access and equity in TVET programmes.
Namibia is confronted with a skills mismatch in the education and training system. What we observe is that the education and training system is more supply driven as opposed to demand driven.
In other words, our education system produces more skills or graduates that are not in demand in the economy. This partly contributes to the high unemployment rates among graduates in the country. Also, employers complain that in some instances, graduates from our institutions of higher learning including TVET centres, do not possess the skills expected of them.
To address the above concerns, it is my view that this is where apprenticeship training matters. There should be social dialogue between the government, workers and employers to map out strategies on what the education and training system should offer in terms of skills demanded and quality of education needed in the country.
During 2014, the NTA introduced a training levy to which employers with a monthly wage bill of more than N$1 million to contribute 1% of that wage bill. We are informed that there are 3 218 levy registered employers with the NTA.
Such employers qualify to claim up to 50% of their training cost from the levy. It is needles to point out that while there are 3 218 employers contributing to the levy, only a mere 93 employers participate in the apprenticeship scheme with 827 registered apprentices.
The question to ask is why is there such a low participation rate among employers in the apprenticeship scheme?
The NTA recently re-introduced apprenticeship training for the TVET sector. This is a move that everyone should welcome and embrace.
With this article, I would like to sensitise the employers and the public at large on the importance of apprenticeships and to encourage employers to participate in the apprenticeship scheme because the benefits are enormous.
Below are some benefits employers could derive from participating in apprenticeship programmes:
Recruit and develop a highly-skilled workforce that helps grow their business;
Improve product ivity, profitability, and an employer’s bottom line;
Create flexible training options that ensure workers develop the right skills;
Minimise liability costs through appropriate training of workers;
Receive tax credits and employee tuition benefits in participating states; and
Increase retention of workers, during and following the apprenticeship.
Create flexible training options that ensure workers develop the right skills;
Minimise liability costs through appropriate training of workers; and
Receive training refund incentives for participating employers. Source: https// www.apprenticeship.gov/ help/what-are-benefits-apprenticeships-employers.
Benefits for apprentices could be summed up as follow:
Earn an income while you are learning
Lowering debt while learning;
Gaining work experience; and
Benefit from qualified mentors.
S our c e : h t t p s : / / www2 . g nb. c a / c ont e nt / g nb / e n / departments/post-secondary_ educat ion_training_and_ l a b o u r / S k i l l s / c o n t e n t / ApprenticeshipAndTrades/ BenefitsOfApprenticeship.html
It is therefore my intention to encourage employers to participate in the apprenticeship scheme because of the enormous benefits accruing from such programmes. The advantages of apprenticeships also outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore, I want to conclude by saying apprenticeships matter for the development of a country such as Namibia.
* Dr Raimo Ndapewa Naanda is a TVET expert. Dr Naanda is a holder of a PhD in Curriculum Studies from the University of Stellenbosch and is currently the deputy executive director at the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation.