By Robert Dixon
MONROVIA, March 1 (LINA) – The Ministry of Youth & Sports says it’s Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions admitted about 3,336 students at the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) in 2019.
The students studied auto mechanic, heavy duty repairs, welding and fabrication, auto electricity, electricity, electronics, refrigeration and air conditioning.
The Ministry also said that 389 students were sent to the Business and Domestic Occupations Training Center (BDOTC) to train in the areas of front office, food and beverages, housekeeping, waiter/waitress service, cookery, tailoring, event decoration, beauty culture, baking, braiding and weaving, respectively.
In its 2019 Annual Report, the Ministry said it BDOTC graduated 266 students in February 2019 and 133 of that number that graduated have obtained full employment.
The Report also said that 300 trainees in the Computer section at the MVTC have completed a circle of training in Software, Hardware and Networking and were graduated in May 2019.
Meanwhile, the report pointed out that in order to enhance the employment chances of TVET graduates, a TVET Graduates Database has been established, while a tracer study intended to identify and include more graduates to this database, is ongoing.
The database, the report said, will be used to link graduates to potential job opportunities in the public and private sectors.
According to the report, out of this database, 30 TVET graduates got short-term employment with LACE on the Joe Bar Market project and 16 have been sent to the Ministry of Public Works for road and maintenance projects in the Southeast and Gbarpolu County.
The Report said 46 trainees of the Youth on the Job Training Program underwent training in Bamboo and Rattan Weaving under the Chinese Bamboo and Rattan Program at the SKD Complex in Paynesville, outside Monrovia.
The report stressed that during the year under review, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) trained 30 individuals in Oil Palm Nursery Development.
The report also shows that the Ministry in collaboration with the China Aid Bamboo and Rattan Weaving and Vegetable Planting Technique Assistance Project completed the fourth training cycle and graduated 29 trainees in General Agriculture from the Klay Agriculture Vocational Training Center in Bomi County.
The next circle of Agriculture training is currently underway at this center, the report said.
It says that 61 applicants out of the 70 teachers recruited to participate in the Youth Rising Project have successfully passed to be trained internationally under the European Union-funded project and recruitment for the balance nine is ongoing.
The report disclosed that In June of the period under review, the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Agriculture, along with WFP, ILO and FAO jointly launched the project « Sustaining Peace and Improving Social Cohesion through the Promotion of Rural Employment Opportunities for Youth in Conflict-Prone Areas. »
According to the report, the program budget, US$1,500,000 is expected benefit 1,200 young people in Bong and Lofa counties over a two-year pilot duration.
The report pointed out that the selected participants will benefit from various Agribusiness and Peace-building trainings and would practically implement their own Agribusiness initiatives as young Liberian Agripreneurs.
Additionally, the government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is also pleased to report that 35 young Liberians benefitted from TVET-related professional development trainings in China, India and Nigeria during the year.
About 30 of these youth were trained in China as a result of ongoing bilateral cooperation arrangements, the report says.
LINA RD/PTK
