Online Reporter
Michelle Musandinyoze, [email protected]
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) technical college has launched a skilled worker programme to provide opportunities for students without Ordinary Level qualifications to acquire valuable life skills.
The programme offers automotive and other technical courses to students without English, Mathematics and Science, which are considered to be critical subjects in the engineering department.
Speaking at a career expo held at Thembiso Primary School in Bulawayo on Friday, NRZ instructor Mr Jatiwa Mudiwa said the programme was meant to bridge the gap in the education system by giving opportunities to students considered less deserving.
“These students will be in class for six months. After that they will go for internship to have industrial knowledge followed by a trade test under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education,” he said.
“Although they might not necessarily become good at everything like calculations compared to their counterparts who applied for direct learnership, NRZ technical college is going to capacitate them with construction skills, painting skills, among others,” Mr Mudiwa said
The technical college has three main programmes — the apprenticeship programme under the NRZ company, direct learnership and the skilled worker programme.
Apprenticeship is a work-based training programme where you learn a trade or skill by working under the guidance of an experienced professional.
In this case, students who work as apprentices would have applied through the NRZ and enrolled for direct learnership with critical subject passes like English, Mathematics and Science for a specific course whilst those enrolled through the skilled worker programme might not have these subjects.
The NRZ technical institution is affiliated to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education through the curriculum research and development section to train as a non-governmental technical and vocational, education and training institution.
