Online Reporter
Fairness Moyana in Hwange
A TOTAL of 210 youths from Matabeleland North province have graduated in Hwange after completing a vocational skills training programme aimed at equipping young people with practical skills to create employment and support Zimbabwe’s economic development agenda.
The graduates were drawn from Hwange District and completed competency-based training in various disciplines under the Zimbabwe National Empowerment Trust for Economic Development (ZINETED) in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training and the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (ZICOSU).
The recent graduation ceremony, held at St Ignatius Primary School in Hwange, was conducted under the theme: “Leaving No One and No Place Behind – Skills for Vision 2030”.
The training covered skills considered critical to employment creation and sustainable livelihoods, including welding, hotel and catering, driving, solar installation, occupational safety and health, information and communication technology (ICT), beauty therapy, early childhood development (ECD), dispensary assistance, fish farming, agriculture and mortuary attendance.
In her remarks, Provincial Secretary for Gender and Culture, Cde Reeds Dube, urged the organisation to expand its programmes to other districts in the province to ensure more young people benefit from skills development initiatives.
He said youth empowerment was critical to Zimbabwe’s economic transformation and called for increased funding for start-ups and income-generating projects.
“There is need for funding for projects or start-up businesses to create employment or jobs. Keeping youths engaged in empowerment programmes is important so they don’t end up engaging in crime or substance and drug abuse,” said Cde Dube.
He said young people had a critical role to play in the country’s development trajectory and urged them to participate in programmes aligned with the national development agenda.
Cde Dube also encouraged beneficiaries to use the skills acquired to establish businesses and create employment in their communities.
Meanwhile, Hwange Local Board town secretary, Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose said the local authority was prepared to support youth empowerment initiatives by availing land for projects.
The gesture could provide graduates with opportunities to establish businesses and practical projects using the skills acquired during their training.
ZINETED Matabeleland North provincial chairlady, Cde Patience Kashiri, said the organisation’s mandate was to empower communities through vocational skills training, particularly young people.
She said ZINETED was working with the Ministry of Youth and PWD4ED and was also engaging the Ministry of Agriculture to expand its training programmes into agro-based skills.
“Today’s graduates are testimony that skills development is the vehicle towards Vision 2030,” she said.
Of the students who registered for the programme, 210 successfully completed their training and graduated.
Welding produced the highest number of graduates at 48, followed by hotel and catering with 46, driving with 40 and solar installation with 37.
Occupational safety and health had 32 graduates, while ICT and mortuary attendant training produced 31 graduates each. Beauty therapy had 21 graduates, followed by ECD with 13, dispensary assistance with seven, fish farming with six and agriculture with two. The training was conducted by Tonganyika Trust.
Cde Fati Mpofu, a Zanu PF Central Committee member who attended the ceremony, said enrolment for further intakes remained open, urging more young people to take advantage of the skills development programme.
The programme organisers said they intended to extend vocational training to other districts in Matabeleland North in line with the theme of leaving no one and no place behind.
