16 June 2022
The day of the African Child saw the inauguration of newly constructed workshops, hostels and equipment at the three public vocational training centres making up the Northern Training Hub, namely Valombola VTC (Ongwediva-Oshana), Nakayale VTC (Outapi-Omusati) and Eenhana VTC (Eenhana-Ohangwena).
The facilities and equipment serve as a demonstration of the Namibia Training Authority’s commitment to the shared national agenda of robust and industry-driven domestic job creation; it also serves as a validation of the importance our Government assigns to the establishment of a vibrant local Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector.
Indeed, Namibia’s highly segmented labour market and the many shades of employment, under-employment and unemployment, continue to hamper our economic development as a country.
In a message read on her behalf, Dr Itah Kandjii Murangi, Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, said that not only is the expansion of the training facilities of the HUB VTCs an initiative to bring much-needed training services closer to the people of Namibia; it is a response to an ongoing national and strategic macro-economic endeavour to create employment opportunities for our people and to support our development and growth as a country in a sustainable manner.
She described the inaugurations as a great milestone to improve the skills of the workforce in order to increase the productivity of the Namibian economy.
NTA Acting Chief Operations Officer Tobias Nambala said that the NTA will continue to implement more such projects aimed at expanding the TVET footprint to all parts of our country. Other such projects have either commenced or are close to completion. We reassure the Namibian nation of our commitment to continue creating more quality training opportunities for young Namibians, who are attracted to TVET as a career path choice.
On behalf of the involved donors, Her Excellency, Ambassador Sinikka Antila, EU Ambassador to Namibia, and the German Ambassador, His Excellency Herbert Beck, commended the collective and coordinated effort to support the three VTCs. The Northern Training Hub project was implemented by GIZ on behalf of the EU and the German government. Referring to the economic situation in Namibia Ambassador Beck underlined: “The goal of education is understanding; the goal of training is performance.” He encouraged the TVET sector to continually strive for better results aiming at the development and prosperity of the Namibian society.
Both highlighted their high regard for the projects as important steps in further enhancing parity of esteem for technical and vocational career options, especially amongst the youth. Leveraging the technical and vocational sector is indeed a key feature of the Namibian Government’s Harambee Prosperity Plan.
The total multi-donor financial contribution of the EU and the German government to the Northern Training Hub project, since 2016, amounts to 8.8 Million EUR (about N$ 148 million). The project scope covered a wide array of activities, including capacity building and re-branding, while the following direct contributions were also made to infrastructure development and procurement of equipment:
NVTC ICT/Electrical – N$ 12 million for construction & N$ 10.8 Million for Procurement of Equipment (including ICT equipment):
NVTC Hostel blocks – N$11.4 million for construction
VVTC Auto-mechatronics – N$ 9.5 million for construction & N$ 3.5 Million for Procurement of Equipment (including ICT equipment)
EVTC Plumbing Workshop – N$ 2.2 million for construction & N$ 5.4 Million for Procurement of Equipment (including ICT equipment):
An additional amount of N$ 7.8 million was recently committed to supporting ICT infrastructure & E-learning across the three centres.