By Uakutura Kambaekua

The construction of a multimillion-dollar Kunene Vocational Training Centre (KVTC) at Khorixas which commenced four years ago is nearing completion.

Kunene’ VTC is part of the Namibia Training Authority’s (NTA) devotion to providing vocational training centres (VTCs) in all 14 regions as part of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Transformation, and Expansion blueprint.

The VTC, which is constructed to the tune of N$700 million will be the first higher-learning institution in the region and will, in turn, enable potential artisans from the region to avoid travelling long distances to other regions in search of vocational skills.

Khorixas constituency councillor Sebastiaan !Gobs said the construction work on the Centre is nearing completion, with more than 90 percent of the work already accomplished.

!Gobs, during an on-site interview with The Villager affirmed that the Centre will be completed by next year.

“The big project, which is currently up and running, is the VTC which is now at 80 to 95 percent completed. Within next year it should be completed. That is the biggest national project under NTA in the region,” he said.

!Gobs said the institution is long overdue, adding that not all children share the same academic level in terms of theoretical exercises and thus require technical training, as per their various preferences.

“As parents, our children’s academic level of understanding tends to differ in the schools. Some of them are not meant to sit in the class, and some of them need technical training. Most of the dropouts, especially the grade 10’s are now on the streets, so if the enrollment opens up, I am hopeful that most of these dropouts will be taken up at the Centre and I hope that it will contribute to educating some people who will be doing things with their hands so that they can also be able to get jobs in mines and so forth,” noted !Gobs.

Additionally, !Gobs stated that he believes that the vocational training Centre will bring an end to the importation of unskilled and semi-skilled Labourers by employers as these will be sourced from the region. Similarly, the councillor noted that the institution will be able to address the education and employment predicaments by producing scores of graduates from different study modes in technical training.

!Gobs also emphasised the establishment of a database that will keep track of all graduates for equal employment opportunities but without neglecting outsiders.

“After they trained, they have to set up a database so that we know who is where trained in which field of study in the region so that whenever there are project or employment opportunities we will know who to recommend but we are not denying people from other region but priority should be given to the region products first,” he said.

The Centre is constructed by the Adaptive Building Land Construction CC, which won the tender in 2020 after beating 29 other companies during the bidding process.

After its completion, KVTC will be the eighth vocational training Centre in the country and the 18th Centre under NTA.