Youth unemployment, lack of economic empowerment and rising urban migration can all partially be tackled through the establishment of vocational training centres in regions, and one region that needs more of such centres is Omaheke. 

This was the proposition of Okorukambe constituency councillor Rocco Nguvauva, who expressed concern with the growing number of young people from his constituency migrating to other areas in search of training opportunities.

While multi-faceted efforts will be required to tackle youth unemployment in its entirety, he is adamant that establishing a vocational training centre at Farm du Plessis in the Okorukambe constituency, Omaheke region, will go a long way in addressing the shortage of training opportunities for the region’s youth, and will also create economic opportunities. 

There is currently a gigantic government-owned youth training centre at Farm du Plessis which has been dormant for almost 20 years now. Nguvauva thus suggests that the time is ripe for the centre to be repurposed into a fully-fledged vocational training centre. 

The centre, New Era has learnt, was constructed for the youth ministry in the mid-90s, and was initially meant to offer agricultural training to the local youth. But it has since only been turned into a venue to host workshops, and to house road construction workers occasionally within the area.

“The centre has been sitting there for years, and has not been put to good use at all. So, the regional leadership and I have been suggesting to government that we turn that centre into a fully-fledged vocational training centre for the region and country’s youth. Our young people are in need of skills, and government itself is also facing a shortage of skilled people in various technical areas. So, why not make use of the centre?” asked the councillor. 

“The facility is big enough to house a lot of students and trust me, once we convert that facility into a vocational training centre, it will also relieve serious pressure on our other vocational training centre at Okakarara, the Valombola training centre and others. We can address economic hardships and create self-employment through such a centre”, he stressed.

With most of the constituency engulfed by privately-owned freehold farms, Nguvauva underscored that establishing such a training centre will equally create lifelong opportunities for the children of farmworkers, who are mostly denied access to education.

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na