WINDHOEK – It is all systems go for the second National Skills Competition on April 3 to 6 at the Ramatex Complex.
According to World Skills Namibia that is running the competition, this year’s bi-annual competition have three main components, a National Skills Competition, which will not only allow technical institutions and individuals to test their skills proficiency against that of their peers, but will also serve as a platform from which to select Namibia’s competitors to represent the country at the next WorldSkills International (WSI) competition in the Russian city of Kazan, in 2019. Another component is the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) exposition, where credible and accredited local and international TVET institutions and businesses are to exhibit their products and skills, while also sharing information on their courses with young aspiring Namibians.
The last component is a TVET Conference, bringing together on a single platform local and international industry representatives, TVET institutions and other critical stakeholders to share TVET experiences and debate pertinent skills and economic development issues affecting the sector.
The officially opening of the competition is April 2. The activities starts on April 3-4 with the TVET conference, while the competition itself and exhibition will take place on April 5. Exhibitors who wants to be part of this year’s event still have a chance to apply for the stalls, with forms and more information to be found on the competition website: www.worldskillsnamibia.na.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NTA Jerry Beukes, the organisation and staging of this event is not only a key deliverable under the Namibian government’s Harambee Prosperity Plan, but also under the NTA’s rolling five-year Strategic Plan to support the promotion of technical and vocational career paths amongst young Namibians, and to challenge the stigmatisation by society of this career path as a low-status option with limited prospects for career advancement. Beukes adds there is an urgent need to grow the numbers of young and qualified VET graduates in the country that she desperately needs.