Fresh interns absorbed by Kraatz
Over the past five years, Kraatz Marine has enriched more than 50 Namibians through its internship programme with the necessary skills and experience required for the labour market. A fresh group of eight students from the Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) were just welcomed on board.
Annually Kraatz Marine takes 12 to 16 students from the institute under its wing to develop their knowledge and skills and prepare them for the real working environment.
According to Kraatz’ Senior Human Capital practitioner, Roberto January, this internship programme which started in 2011 enables students to do their job attachment to gain practical experience to prepare them for the job market.
“Students get experience in the Industrial & Mining division, the workshop, and also in the Marine & Offshore division where they get exposure in the ship repair industry. Generally students taken on board by Kraatz Marine from NIMT specialize in Boiler making, Welding, and Fitting & Turning.
These students are mentored and coached by Master craftsmen that have worked in the engineering sector for many years and that possess a wealth of experience locally and internationally. It is of utmost importance and we are keen on developing young Namibians and afford them the opportunity to gain practical experience to better prepare them for the job market and at the same time contribute to our country’s development and vision 2030,” he explained.
In September last year Kraatz Marine had its first intake of students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2015.
The Memorandum makes provision for attachment of students and academics to Kraatz Marine for capacity-building, research, teaching and learning.
January added that the practical training varies between 6 months and 1 year depending on the students’ level of study. When asked what happened to all the students that participated in the Kraatz Marine Internship Programme so far, he said “Some were appointed permanently and some on a fixed term basis. These employees have occupied supervisory positions, but some have voluntary left the services of the company after many years of service.
