GOBABIS: The head of the Omaheke Community Skills Development Centre (COSDEC), Ellis Tjiueza has called on youths in the region to make use of the centre’s services by enrolling for vocational training courses offered there.

Underscoring the importance of vocational training in an interview with Nampa on Thursday, Tjiueza said it is high time Namibians take vocational education seriously and do away with the notion that such training was for underachievers.

He said many developed countries around the world have made use of vocational training to impart vital skills to their citizens, who in turn embarked on entrepreneurship endeavours to advance their respective countries’ economies.

“Industrialised countries the world over did not get where they are today sorely through the efforts of white-collar office workers, but largely through the men and women in blue overalls who do physical industry work,” he noted.

Tjiueza also said there is no reason why Namibia should rely on expatriates for work that could be done by Namibians themselves, if they have the necessary vocational education and skills.

He noted that it was high time Namibian youth venture into entrepreneurship in order to create work for themselves, as the Namibian job market is simply not big enough to accommodate all eligible job seekers.

“I do not know how the notion came about that vocational training is for people who have failed to progress in conventional schools. If anything else, vocational training is as vital a part of the education curriculum as any other field of study,” he stated.

The Omaheke COSDEC head bemoaned the low enrolment rate of students at the centre, noting that the centre’s doors remain open to anyone who intends to learn a vital vocational skill.

“People are coming to enroll for courses, but the enrollment rate is still low. Youth should come forward and register with COSDEC, as it would be for their own benefit,” Tjiueza said.

The community skills development concept was introduced in 1997 as a way of reducing Namibia’s widespread poverty. The COSDEC family has since evolved into a set of key players in technical and vocational training for the country’s formal and informal sectors.

The centres offer skills training courses of one week to 10 months in woodwork, bricklaying and building, needlework, catering and welding, amongst other things.