Deputy Executive Director in the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Dr Raimo Naanda has urged Namibian corporate companies to join the call of absorbing students seeking internship programmes to complete their studies.
Speaking at the MTC internship programme breakfast engagement here on Tuesday, Naanda stressed that employers are not interested in training, saying currently the country has over 2 800 employers with an annual payroll of N.dollars 1 million contributing one per cent to the National Training Authority VET levy monthly, however only about 80 are participating in upskilling and training students.
Naanda stressed that, although the levy comes with benefits of employers having to claim up to 50 per cent of their training cost, corporates are still not taking part, further stressing that the integration of students into the corporate world to better Namibia’s economy is a collective call of both Government and the corporate community.
“Government wants to have a coordinated work integrated learning framework and currently a policy framework is being formulated to ensure that students get opportunities for on the job training,” he noted.
At the same event, MTC Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer Tim Ekandjo said the industry has a figure of 48 000 students nationally who are in dire need of internship to graduate, stressing that there is a need to nationalise their internship programme as most employers’ “hostile” requirement for graduates is industrial experience.
He noted that the MTC internship programme was launched in 2019 with the aim of accommodating over 160 interns annually, thus far assisting 600 students on a budget spanning to N.dollars 7 million to date.
“We are now ready to upscale the project to become a national vehicle for internships. MTC and the Office of the Prime Minister will collectively contribute N.dollars 2 million per annum. We are looking for other corporates out there to come on board with a contribution of at least N.dollars 200 000, let us assist these students together so that we better prepare a certified and skilled workforce,” pleaded Ekandjo.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
