Prisoners get training opportunities to integrate better into society
The Namibia Training Authority (NTA) and the Namibian Correctional Services (NCS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding last week to formalise the longstanding ties of collaboration between the two institutions.
The agreement anticipates the delivery of the Training Authority’s accredited technical and vocational training qualifications at training facilities of the Correctional Services countrywide.
Jerry Beukes, Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority said the MoU requires them to render concomitant assessment and certification services at such training facilities, while the two parties also commit themselves towards fast tracking and expediting the process of formalising all Correctional Services technical and vocational training programmes.
“The importance of our cooperation cannot be overemphasised, indeed multiple studies have demonstrated the trans-formative effect of inmate rehabilitation programmes, which include a strong technical and vocational training component,” he added.
He said that core rehabilitation gives an inmate a way to acquire skills that were either never learned or never taught and although easier said than done, with varying degrees of support they have successfully reintegrated into society by applying the skills they acquired during their rehabilitation towards sustaining themselves and their families.
Manfred Jatamunua, Deputy Commissioner of NamPol added that a total 13 vocational trades are currently functional at five correctional facilities out of the 30 trades that are planned to be introduced and the remaining 17 trades are planed to be introduced in the period of this year to 2022.
“We want to secure enough qualified technicians, artisans, plumbers, electricians and boilermakers for a specific period and therefore it is our view that this agreement will definitely address some of the shortcoming that we still have to fix,” he added.
This agreement makes provision of technical support towards the registration of NCS training facilities, provision of quality assurance services to ensure registration and accreditation of NCS training facilities with the NTA and the NQA respectively, to build capacity of NCS training staff to ensure the delivery of quality training, provision of curriculum standards, guidelines and teaching materials for national technical and vocational training programmes and qualifications, conducting assessments for national technical and vocational training qualifications and the certification of NCS candidates and lastly monitoring and evaluation.
