Ongwediva – With the increasing demand for vocational education, the Volombola Vocational Training Centre (VVTC) in Ongwediva plans to expand fivefold its training facility to accommodate at least 4 545 trainees per semester at its Ongwediva campus and Oshakati Guest Hotel, respectively.
Currently, the vocational centre only caters for about 900 trainees.
Talks are currently underway to expand the centre to cater for the needs of a wider population of the Oshana Region.
In addition to increasing the trainees, the centre will also need additional 43 staff members to supplement the 40 that are already at the centre.
“Based on the proposals of VVTC, this expansion will require that 43 staff be appointed in addition to the 40 that are currently at the ‘old’ campus. These range from Deputy Director to janitors and security personnel,” said Liason Officer at the Valombola, Helena Oscar.
Apart from the staff, the centre will also need an estimated N$111 million per year to cater for its operational costs.
Oscar said the expansion would be undertaken in two phases.
The first phase will include servicing of land, landscaping, putting up the roads and installation of water and sewer reticulation.
The second phase will focus on construction and the extension of workshops and classrooms in the various trades offered at the centre.
Meanwhile, VVTC will confer over 163 trainees with certificates during its upcoming graduation ceremony on Friday.
The trainees, who successfully completed their courses, will be conferred with level three National Vocation Certificates.
VVTC Centre Manager, Titus Malangu, said for Namibia to become an industrialised country, it needs artisans and such can only be fully realised if the country invests in vocational education and training under the government’s Harambee Prosperity Plan.