Vocational training in spotlight

The basic education ministry is reintroducing pre-vocational subjects in some technical schools in the country.
Octavia Tsibes
Elizabeth Joseph



Building a bridge between the wold of work and the world of vocational training.

On Wednesday, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts Frankfurt-Rhein-Main, in partnership with the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), hosted a conference under the theme ‘Promoting business success through work-based learning - German and Namibian experiences and lessons learned’ at the Windhoek Country Club Resort.

Among the many guests present at the conference was Bernd Ehinger, president of the German chamber, Namibia Training Authority (NTA) CEO Jerry Beukes, German ambassador Christian-Matthias Schlaga, NCCI acting CEO Charity Mwiya and Daniel Bagwitz, the cluster coordinator for sustainable economic development projects at GIZ Namibia.

“Dual education is one of the factors that, in our view, has contributed to the ‘Made in Germany’ recipe for success. We are always in demand as a craft, but also as a craft chamber,” Ehinger said.

Beukes shed more light on the current status of vocational training in Namibia.

He emphasised that prior to Namibia’s independence, training was predominantly industry-based.

“We have done away with apprenticeships in technical schools after independence. However, we are reviving it with the help of our basic education ministry, which is reintroducing pre-vocational subjects in some technical schools in the country,” he said.

After the presentations, the floor was opened for a panel discussion titled, ‘Is TVET ready for work-integrated learning?’.

The panelists were, Jurgen Karpinski, president of the German Association of Motor Trade, Rainer Mangler van Klev, vice-president of the Chamber of Skilled Crafts Frankfurt-Rhein-Main, Dr Raimo Naanda, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Tim Parkhouse, secretary-general of the Namibian Employers Federation and Robbie Amadhila, chairperson and owner of Roama Gates Manufacturing.