Matriculants encouraged to take up Agriculture
Agriculture as a critical trade is now registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) after new national qualifications and unit standards for the Agriculture sector were developed.
The Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Dr. Itah Kandjii-Murangi said this recently while informing the public on what the the Ministry plans for the coming year.
Dr. Kandjii-Murangi said that the focus on agriculture is part of a nationwide expansion of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) access in the regions.
According to her plans are already underway to start the work to transform the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) into a TVET Instructors’ Unit as part of a fully-fledged Faculty of TVET Education this year and different Embassies and Development Partners have being approached to assist.
“For a good part of 2016, we consulted with the Namibia Training Authority and other relevant local stakeholders, regional and international partners and begun the process of transforming the TVET system,” Kandjii-Murangi said.
A UNESCO Scoping Study Report highlights actions to take that are based on a strategy that focuses on unlocking the benefits of the TVET system.“This is why it was crucial for the Ministry, shortly after its inception, to engage stakeholders, and enlisted UNESCO experts to do a scoping exercise to establish the status of affairs of the pillars of the ministry’s functional engagement.” Kandjii-Murangi said.
Many of the UNESCO Reports recommendations have been implimented, such as harmonize the TVET curriculum before decentralizing to all the regions; strengthening the instructors’ education program and establishing a robust job attachment system that links industry and TVET institutions.
Meanwhile, construction of the Kunene and Oshikoto VTCs and the servicing of the allocated land in Kavango West for agricultrual and other VTC courses is planned for this year, while consultations and engagements regarding the Hardap Region VTC are ongoing.
“There are two options for Hardap, either to expand Kaikanagab Training Centre, to accommodate the formal VTC programmes alongside the Ministry of Youth programmes or to allocate a separate piece of land for the Hardap VTC,” Kandjii-Murangi said.
