adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
MATABELELAND South province has launched the Integrated Skills Outreach Programme (ISOP) meant to economically empower unemployed youths in both rural and urban areas. Officially launching the programme at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic in Gwanda Town recently, the Permanent Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Washington Mbizvo, said Government was committed to ensuring that unemployed youths were equipped with skills so that they could create employment and be able to sustain themselves.
“This programme seeks to empower our unemployed youths with skills so that they can be self employed and embark on income generating projects that would change their lifestyle. This programme will contribute immensely towards rural industrialisation using local resources,” he said.
ISOP, the brainchild of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and coordinated with other partner ministries, will see trainee youths engaged in short term courses that would stretch up to three months at the JMN Polytechnic.
The youths would be trained in programmes such as brick laying, carpentry, welding, dressmaking and hairdressing.
Dr Mbizvo urged youths to cultivate a culture of observing what he termed as soft skills such as time management, self reflection and self confidence so that they forged successively in exploring new avenues in rural industry.
“Youths should avoid the tendency of passing their time idling but create a balance in how they spend their time purposefully and be able to convert their dreams into reality,” he said.
Dr Mbizvo said upon completion of the training programmes, the youths would be provided with tool kits in their respective courses.
ISOP was officially launched by Vice President Joyce Mujuru in 2006 in Masvingo and the training programme has since spread to all the ten provinces.
Speaking at the same occasion, the acting deputy director for Industrial Training and Trade Testing in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Mr Ephraim Tadzingwa, said since the inception of the programme, Matabeleland South had so far trained 1 571youths.
“Among the trained youths in this province, 714 were females while 857 were males. At the moment 98 youths are being trained.
“ISOP training has provided the platform to curb rural to urban migration in search of formal employment. In communities where ISOP has conducted courses, the commission of crime among the youths has been minimised,” he said.
The programme is being funded by the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF).
The provincial administrator Mr Midard Khumalo applauded the Government for empowering the unemployed youths with skills through ISOP and encouraged more youths to join the programme.
“We are in hard times but with such skills, youths can be empowered to make a living. Youths also need skills in marketing so that they remain sustainable in what they do. We appeal to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to introduce such marketing skills,” he said.
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