October 6, 2021
By Dadson A. Musa
A technical –vocational institute located at Kissy and run by St. Joseph fathers is providing much needed technical and vocational training to our youths, especially those that could not make it to university. This Muraldo Technical Institute idea started in Italy by Leonard Muraldo. During the industrial revolution in Italy youths migrated from rural areas of Italy to find jobs in the city. Then it was in Turin where Leonard Muraldo lived. These youths did not have the required skills to be employed so they ended up jobless and had to resort to criminality in the city of Turin. So in his wisdom, Leonard Muraldo started a school for them so that they could get needed hands-on skills. They were referred to as the ‘little Artisans’. And so many youths joined them to get the institution going and on good footing. Thirty- three years ago they established the first institute in Lunsar, north of Sierra Leone. Thirteen years later the Freetown branch was established at Kissy. The Freetown institution seems to be thriving. Courses offered include; catering, tailoring, metal work, building and construction, electrical, electronics, IT, among others. But over the years they have tried to include other humanity courses like accounting, procurement etc. An A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed with the University of Makeni so that students can be transferred to take NCTVA exams.
Funding has been a challenge for the institution and they have called on government sometimes to come to their aid. Although they have been able to secure funds through the sale of their products. They succeeded in getting funds from the Skills Development provided by the World Bank which they utilized to train more youths. A good percentage of their teachers are not on pin code and therefore calls on government to help them with that. The reverend father who is in charge is calling on Sierra Leoneans to change their perception about technical and vocational institutions. That it is not only attended by drop outs but people with natural talents. These youths when they graduate prove to be very useful citizens of society.