Martin Endjala
Society perception that vocational training institutes are for failures, perceived as last option for students hampers the potentiality of students fulling their passion.
These were the remarks of Chairperson of the Association of Technical and Vocational Education Training Institutions in Namibia (ATVETIN) Regina Ambambi in an interview with the Windhoek Observer.
She said that the perception implies that they have no other alternatives after failing to qualify for Tertiary and that the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) becomes their last option and not a career path.
This she pointed out there has been scenarios were students pursuing law or other careers, end up becoming plumbers and electrician, and find it more employable.
Ambambi hence cautioned parents and society at large, not to discourage their children from pursuing TVET as a career, as this is a perception which robs off many capable students who are passionate about TVET.
She therefore encourages students and parents to start considering TVET as a career path as this enables them to ensure that students will gain skills that will in return help them to secure self-reliance job careers.
The Namibia Training Authority (NTA) and the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) also sponsors some of the TVET courses.
However, despite there being about 98 private vocational training institutes, which includes community base like Namwater, Nampower parastatals and KAYEC, as well as nine public vocational training institutes countrywide.
It is limited to an accommodative of number of students due to its facility capacity, as compared to tertiary institutes.
But the AVETIN chairperson has extended her call to all students who wish to enroll to do so.
Meanwhile, in its statement released on Friday, Ambambi stated that TVET sector is ready to accept the learners that are willing and able to venture into this sector as a preferred career choice.
“There are many exciting areas of training available within the TVET field of study”, the statement read.
However, it cautioned that the TVET field is not for failures but rather a relevant and preferred career choice for passionate Namibian youth;” it must be a chosen pathway to the future regardless of the crisis that stands within the education sector”.
TVET learning is said to have many attractions. The sector produces the workers who turn ideas into products and services that can be sold. Sales mean income is generated and spent, creating new demands for more goods and services.
TVET graduates world-wide are said to earn income earlier than their counterparts in other education sub-sectors, and increased incomes into the future.
Furthermore, TVET graduates are better placed to become entrepreneurs, job creators and large benefactors into the economy of the country and continent at large.
“We all need to work our hardest to ensure that the Namibian youth enjoy deserved success, success that will motivate for greater success in chosen learning and career pathways”, said Ambambi.
In its statement, ATVETIN is pledged its readiness and committed to work with the government and all Stakeholders.
“The future is young, let us ensure we nurture and protect it, in order to foster growth and development through various forms of education”, read the statement.
