NTA to Carry Out Survey on TVET Graduates to Improve Employability

Business Reporter

THE Namibia Training Authority (NTA) will be conducting its National TVET graduate survey, which will trace over 12,700 graduates who graduated between 2018 and 2020 in the field of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), to determine if they are gainfully employed.

Indongo Indongo, NTA’s manager of research and planning, explained that the employment statistics of these past graduates might be low, as many Namibians lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tobias Nambala, the General Manager of TVET regulations, explained that the NTA conducted its first graduate survey in 2019 for those who graduated between 2015 and 2017. He shared that this past survey revealed successes and challenges, showing that about 50% of these graduates were unemployed. He added that in the new survey, about 10% of the 12,000 graduates from 2018 and 2020 will be interviewed.

“The NTA’s Research and Planning Division spearheads the study, which is targeting employed, unemployed, and self-employed graduates from TVET registered institutions, who graduated between 2018 and 2020 and acquired TVET qualifications from Level 1 to Level 6,” Nambala said. He added that methodologically, the study adopts a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Longitudinal by design, it applies a random sampling approach in soliciting responses.

“A universal coverage form is to be applied in reaching out to respondents. Face-to-face interviews will serve as the main data collection tool for employers and self-employed graduates, whereas an online (digital) approach will be used to collect data from graduates. In this regard, graduates are expected to complete an online questionnaire via an Internet hyperlink based on a specialized survey software program,” Nambala said.

He further added that to boost response and questionnaire completion rates, follow-ups will be conducted using a wide array of methods, including email notifications, Short Message Service (SMS), and telephonic reminders. Interviewers will conduct face-to-face interviews from July 24th, 2023, to August 4th, 2023. Interviewers will be dressed in NTA-branded attire and will carry special identification cards.