December 6, 2021
BY: MOHAMED SAHR
Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone-REAPS Technical Vocational Education and Training Institution have trained two hundred and eighty-eight grandaunts on Skills Development Fund Project on Friday 3rd December 2021 at National Stadium Atlantic Hall.
In her keynote address, Etta Cowan, representative from the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE) said the Government of Sierra Leone is also focusing on Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) for the development of the country and uplifting the middleman power in the job market. ‘‘The reason why President Bio-led government has taken TVET more serious is due to the provision of socio-economic benefits of the country and society by extension,’’ she said.
Etta Cowan noted that the construction of six (6) new TVET centres are ongoing across the country for training of more men and women to acquire skills for their survivor and sustainability of their family.
She said the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education is working hard for the harmonization of certificates in order to meet college and university standards within the sub-Sahara regions. Adding that, the MTHE and private organizations are more embarking on employing the grandaunts at various institutions.
She noted that Technical Vocational Education Training in Sierra Leone has attracted lots of attention from government and business partners.
Hon. Solomon Bangali, Management and Evaluation Specialist at Ministry of Technical and Higher Education said out of the two hundred and eighty-eight skilled grandaunts, one hundred and eight-eight must have immediate jobs.
He said the remaining hundred trainees are encouraged to create profitable jobs for themselves mainly out of the seven different disciplines through innovation and entrepreneurship.
He disclosed that the Government of Sierra Leone provided Twenty Two Million Leones to train men and women in capacity building and enhancing the middleman power.
Hon. Solomon Bangali advised that training is not the only thing, but integrity and good mannerism. ‘‘This opportunity given by the government is to improve poverty rate in the country,’’ he said.
Pastor Gadiru Bassie, General Secretary at Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone felt honored and commended the tutors for impacting knowledge and skills in the grandaunts.
He climaxed the event with the distribution of certificates to grandaunts and urged them to implement the skills they have acquired in the cooperate world.
Kadija Jalloh, a grandaunt from the department of Tailoring and Dress Making said the entire training program lasted for six months and it was on free basis. She expressed that; she can now put into practice what she has learnt. “I feel happy to see myself at this level,’’ she said.
Ballah Dumbuya, grandaunt revealed that he is joyous for the knowledge he has attained. He believed that he would now benefit from the skills he has learned. He called on the youths to come on board in helping themselves and strive the same way he went.