Chronicle Editor
Lingani Nyika, in MASVINGO
A TOTAL of 1 165 students, among them those living with disabilities, graduated yesterday at Mushagashe Vocational Training Centres in Masvingo.
Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister Tino Machakaire who presided over the combined ceremony for Mushagashe, Masvingo and Gutu VTCs, lauded Mushagashe VTC for empowering the Girl Child and people living with disabilities by equipping them with technical and vocational skills, saying it will help generate employment and income.
Among the 1 165 graduates, 657 are females while 508 are males, including 16 people living with disabilities and 108 prison inmates.
Minister Tino Machakaire said empowering women with practical skills is critical in the attainment of Vision 2030.
He said the empowerment of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty reduction as well as the attainment of gender and social equality.
“This is a significant milestone as we strive to empower the girl child and persons living with disabilities. Graduates went through the training for enterprise programme which is unique as it offers an alternative career path to those school leavers who failed to progress to Ordinary Level, colleges or universities,” said Minister Machakaire.
“The programme equips the trainees with technical and vocational skills to enable them to start their own enterprises for employment creation and self-sustenance.’
Minister Machakaire urged the graduates to embrace the values of courage, resilience, love, determination and hard work as they enter the world of work for them to be prosperous.
The graduates underwent courses in agriculture, automobile electrics and electronics, carpentry, clothing and textiles, electrical power engineering, motor mechanics, tourism and hospitality, metal fabrication, brick and block laying, cosmetology, plumbing and drain laying.
The training programme was facilitated by Takunda Care, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) and World Vision.
Speaking during the same occasion, Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Ezra Chadzamira said VTCs are critical for self-sustenance and employment creation.
“Training centres play a pivotal role in adding value to the Government’s call for self-sustenance and employment creation. The training for this enterprise concept was adopted by vocational training centres and the ratio is 80 percent practicals and 20 percent theory. This thrust is bringing in a product that is more practical and focused on productivity,” he said.
Minister Chadzamira urged the graduates to utilise their skills to start their own businesses and contribute to national development.
“Our graduates should be employers and not employees because they have been armed with necessary skills to go out in the world where they are expected to survive on the skills they have been equipped with,” he said.
Minister Chadzamira said every citizen should be part of the development process and those empowered with skills should take the lead.
Online Reporter