THE National Skills Conference, slated for 25 to 30 September at the Ongwediva Trade Centre, will target 300 young people.
The third National Skills Conference (NSCO2023) will target technical vocational education and training (TVET) trainees, graduates, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The conference aims to promote youth development and empowerment through the enhancement of TVET in Namibia.
According to Indongo Indongo, the chairperson of the NSCO2023, the conference brings together a wide array of stakeholders, including educators, industry representatives, youth participants, and government officials to provide practical solutions and discuss the importance of creating opportunities and bridging the unemployment gap for young people.
This year’s conference will be hosted under the theme ‘Youth Development Empowerment: Creating Opportunities and Bridging the Unemployment Gap’.
Indongo says the objectives of the conference are to highlight the significance of youth empowerment in Namibia by fostering personal, entrepreneurial, and professional growth, to explore the potential of emerging sectors as avenues for creating employment opportunities for the youth, and to discuss the role of the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in accelerating youth development and enhancing employability.
Apart from that, the conference will identify aid and funding mechanisms to support TVET graduates in accessing job opportunities and strengthening their prospects, as well as promote the nurturing of entrepreneurial mindsets within the TVET ecosystem to encourage job creation and innovation.
Indongo says the conference will have sub-themes: opportunities in emerging sectors, embracing 4IR for youth development acceleration, aid and funding for employment to strengthen TVET graduates’ prospects, and nurturing entrepreneurial mindsets on TVET’s role in job creation and innovation.
He says this would increase and strengthen partnerships and collaboration for sustainable youth development among aspiring entrepreneurs and industry enablers, including funding facilities, and educational and government institutions.
The conference will feature esteemed individuals from various sectors, including leaders from state-owned enterprises, industry experts, entrepreneurs, investors, small and medium-sized business owners, government officials, graduates, and youth bodies and organisations.
“These individuals have extensive experience within their respective industries.
“They will deliberate on solutions and provide relevant information concerning employment and entrepreneurship to TVET graduates and the Namibian youth,” Indongo says.
According to the TVET advocacy specialist of the Namibia Training Authority, Kathy Newaka, up to 14 winners in skill areas for the NSCO2023 will represent Namibia at the global skills competition taking place in Lyon, France, from 10 to 15 September 2024.
This event would see over 1 600 talented young professionals from 85 countries and regions participate in more than 60 different skill competitions – all for a chance to be recognised as the best in the world in their individual skills.
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