ONDANGWA – One hundred and fifty seven students received certificates equivalent to the level two National Qualification Framework (NQF-L11) examination requirements in various courses at the Community Skills Development Centre (COSDEC) at Ondangwa on Friday.
The students graduated in food preparation and serving, welding and metal fabrication, plumbing and pipe-fitting, office administration and basic computer, bricklaying and plastering, joinery and cabinet making, and needlework.
Addressing the graduates at their graduation ceremony, Deputy Minister of Education Silvia Makgone said COSDECs are expected to provide open training opportunities to course participants regardless of their level of general education, therefore they are the centres for self-improvement and self-employment.
“It is expected of graduates to use the skills they acquired at COSDEC to go into the market and fish and make a living for themselves and also for other Namibians. The market is big, it depends on what you want from it, do you want to go further to the VTCs (vocational training centres), do you want to go and work for someone or do you want to be your own boss?” she put it to the graduates.
Makgone said COSDECs would introduce a SME programme in 2014 to support graduates who want to become entrepreneurs and thereby contribute to employment creation. She thus encouraged all financial institutions to provide the necessary support such as micro loans for buying tools kit and equipment required to start own businesses, because by doing so, they contribute to employment creation and improved livelihoods.
“Skills development does not only allow young people to practise their chosen careers but provides them with the opportunity to play an active role in shaping their future. It provides citizens with the opportunity to actively participate in their democratic dispensation. By developing an increased skills base, as a country we are broadening our tax base and in return, improve the standards of living of our people,” said the deputy minister.
Speaking at the same occasion the chairperson of the Oshana Regional Council Lot Kuushomwa said with people now qualifying in different fields as offered at COSDEC in Ondangwa can in future rely on its own residents to participate in its socio-economic growth. Kuushomwa urged the Ministry of Education to invest more funds in empowering community skills development centres in the country.
The Ondangwa deputy mayor Helena Mundjele said the centre would soon be furnished with modern tools and equipment to enable it to strengthen the quality of its training delivery and produce more competitive graduates relevant to the labour market in the country.
By Loide Jason