Sasscal sensitises youth on demands from new industries for qualified professionals
By Freeman Ya Ngulu.
Earlier this year in July, SASSCAL participated in the Empowered and Released Career Expo 2023 titled ““Enhancing Youth Participatory in Wealth Discoveries” to increasing the visibility and awareness of the Youth for Green Hydrogen programme.
Hosted and organised by the faith-based Grand Harvest Ministries, the Expo elevated youth awareness of future careers before the young learners enter tertiary institutions.
The event was attended by over 100 learners, life-skill teachers, principals and industry experts in the Green Hydrogen, Oil and Gas industries. SASSCAL as the main sponsor took the opportunity to amplify its advocacy and awareness campaign for renewable energy careers among the youth in Namibia.
It is during such a time and era in which the country is rolling out a massive Hydrogen Investment Initiative in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany (BMBF) under the Joint Communique of Intent (JCoI) signed on 25th of August 2021.
Under this Joint Communique of Intent SASSCAL works together with the Government of Namibia, the Government of Germany and other partner institutions as the main entrusted implementing agent for the Green Hydrogen Initiative.
Currently, the initiative is demarcated into three focus areas namely the Green Hydrogen Strategy which builds the roadmap and the future path for the Green Hydrogen Investments in Namibia, the Green Hydrogen Pilot Project, which is a set of demonstration projects, accompanying the research and lastly the Capacity Building programme to create preparedness of the Namibian citizens in terms of skills, expertise and entrepreneurship.
During the Expo, SASSCAL presented in detail the Green Hydrogen Initiative, how it is intended to benefit the participating countries, as well as the opening opportunities for the youth through capacity building programmes and sholarships.
The Director of Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, highlighted the unpredictability of the career ecosystem and the need for the youth of today to be educated for the jobs of the technologies of tomorrow.
“One of the most important things, I would like our learners to keep in mind when they make a career decision is that change is constant. We must be aware of the changing nature of the world of work and thus we must master the skills of curiosity, innovation, adaptability, and resilience. Every change, good or bad brings new opportunities.” she said.
SASSCAL’s Senior Professional Officer for Human Capacity Development, Mr Kevin Stephanus presented to the learners the general mandate of SASSCAL, its Capacity Development programmes and the recently awarded 70 Y4H2 scholarships by SASSCAL’s main and initial funder, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Mr Stephanus also encouraged learners to be on the lookout for a new call of invitations for applications to be published in September for Youth for Green Hydrogen scholarships for next year for Namibian learners.
At the Expo, the learners were keen to find out more about the specific jobs that will become part of the envisaged Green Hydrogen revolution, and of the opportunities that will help them pursue the relevant qualifications for these jobs.
