Albertina Nakale
The NamWater vocational training centre will not enroll new students next year as the institution will realign its strategic plans. Apart from its mandate of providing clean drinking water to the Namibian nation, the institution has committed itself to positively contribute to the upskilling of Namibians.
By doing so the institution has committed itself to fight against poverty and unemployment by introducing a vocational training centre at Von Bach in Okahandja within the division of human resource development.
In an interview with New Era this week, the manager at the centre, Richardt Kharuchab confirmed the institution is striving to align itself strategically and “2023 will be used to re-align, re-engineering ourselves and to see which direction to go in terms of NamWater’s mandate and Namibia Training Authority’s (NTA)
key priority areas”.
“It means we will develop the strategic business plan of the centre and the implementation will start in 2024. Current trainees will continue next year to complete their studies. Our internal training for NamWater employees and town councils will also continue,” Kharuchab noted.
He stressed the aim is to really align the centre strategically in terms of financial viability and contribute to the envisaged objectives of the government. The centre also aims to develop core and distinctive competencies of NamWater employees as well as towards the development of water sector skills.
The training centre can accommodate about 450 students per intake for three levels. The NamWater Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) is a registered vocational training centre with the NTA. It is accredited by Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) and it follows the modular and competency-based training curriculum as guided by NTA and NQA. Currently, the centre is busy with the re-registration and re-accreditation with NTA and NQA respectively.
As a commercialised organisation, it is operated on a cost recovery principle. This implies that any capital spent on water schemes and related projects are recovered fully to enable further investment in infrastructure by the company.
The centre offers both theory and practical classes and has been in operation since 1998. The centre trains grade 10 and 12 learners with good marks in Mathematics, Science and English who are interested in becoming artisans. Qualifying trainees can apply to Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) for the loans and to NTA for subsidy according to their criteria.
The fields offered at the centre include electrical general, diesel mechanic, water care, carpentry and joinery, bricklaying and plastering, plumbing and pipefitting, office administration as well as heavy plant operator training. Kharuchab said their graduates are mostly employed at NamWater, NamPower, City of Windhoek, Erongored, Cenored, Meatco, Coca-Cola, local authorities and the construction industry.
Some of the challenges he highlighted are the impacts of Covid-19, lack of trainees’ accommodation, and scarcity of funding. “Most of the trainees are coming from outside Okahandja and are faced with accommodation challenges. The centre is in the process to complete additional 80 rooms. A funding model agreement with NTA and NSFAF will be in place through a training grant agreement. The centre will also sign an agreement with private companies to assist with the job attachment and the work integrated learning,” he stated.
According to him, any other challenges will be identified and addressed through the business plan development and implementation.
– anakale@nepc.com.na