RVTC INAUGURATES AGRI-TVET CAMPUS

15 June 2021

More young people should consider taking up training in the area of agriculture, so that they can be exposed to agricultural production best practices required to establish and maintain food security in the country.

This was said by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation. Hon. Veno Kauaria, when she officiated at the inauguration of the Rundu Vocational Training Centre’s recently constructed Agri-TVET facility.

“For countries, such as Namibia – who lack institutional capacity and who are often hamstrung by a lack of resources in the delivery of Agri-TVET – quality over quantity should be the mantra. We must build our Agri-TVET human capacities. Our Agri-TVET programmes must be demand-driven and context-specific, and investments at the institutional level must promote flexibility and innovative programming in order to maximise the impacts of such training”, the Deputy Minister stressed.

“We must overcome the disconnect that exists between Agri-TVET and general agricultural education. We must do all this, while evolving with and responding to the changing realities of agriculture and rural economies,” Hon. Kauaria added.

On his part, Kavango-East Governor, Hon. Bonifatius Wakudumo remarked that the availability of agricultural skills will make it easier for the region to mine the potential of its abundance of water and fertile land.”Kavango-East has the potential to become a bread basket from which to feed not only its owninhabitants, but indeed the entire country”, he emphasised.

NTA General Manager: TVET Regulations, explained that as custodians of this important sector, the organisation appreciated that it needed to do much more – not only in generating more Agri-TVET opportunities, but in attracting the youth to consider Agri-TVET courses, as well. “We will continue to embrace this responsibility. TVET is what will empower our young people. It is integral and critical to our future competitiveness.”, he explained.

Artisan trainees, supervised by seasoned trainers constructed the Rundu VTC Agri-TVET campus facility. Construction was made possible through the support of the German Government, through its Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Promotion of Vocational Education and Training (ProVET) Project.

This particular project’s support also included the development of new Agri-TVET unit standards and qualifications, the procurement of training equipment and the mentoring of trainers, and translates into an amount in excess of N$ 6.1 million, thus far.