Central Bank, Training Authority commence apprentice programme
The implementation of the Bank of Namibia initiative to support the Namibia Training Authority’s apprenticeship programme kicked off this week, with the signing of Memorandum of Agreement with the three participating employers that will provide apprenticeship opportunities in the agriculture, tourism and auto-mechanic sectors.
The three participating employers are Pupkewitz Motors taking in 14 auto-mechanic artisans, Gondwana Collection Namibia to train 16 tourism (tour guiding) apprentices and Agribusdev for 20 apprentices in agriculture. Apprentices will be attached to their respective employers for a period of three years.
The central bank and the training authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2019 in which they agreed to support the programme over a three-year period to cover the cost of 50 apprenticeships in the priority areas of agriculture, tourism and auto-mechanic.
Tourism and agriculture were selected because of their identification as priority areas in the national development plans such as Fifth National Development Plan and Harambee Prosperity Plan, while auto-mechanic was chosen based on it being an occupation that is likely to bring about self-employment opportunities to interested young people.
During the occasion, Bank of Namibia Director of Strategic Communications and Financial Sector Development, Dr Emma Haiyambo, commended participating employers for demonstrating an interest in the Technical and Vocational Education Training sector which is as an enabler of economic growth through skills development and employment creation while at the same time contributing to Namibia’s industrialisation drive.
“The Bank of Namibia’s support is an investment in our country’s most important resource – its people, and the agreements signed will take the apprenticeship initiative a step further as the scope now purposely includes the agricultural sector,” Jerry Beukes, Chief Executive Officer of the training authority added.
Caption: Band of Namibia and Namibia Training Authority representatives with Pupkewitz Motors, Gondwana Collection Namibia and Agribusdev representatives.
