Gov’t to closely work with private VTCs, says Public Service Underscretary
*JUBA, 30 November 2013 *- The government will work closely with private vocational training centres (VTCs) to ensure vocational training offered in the country meets international standards. The Undersecretary for Labour in the national Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development, Madam Hellen Achiro Lotara, at the same time hailed private VTCs for complementing the efforts of the government in equipping the youth with skills to earn a livelihood. Madam Hellen said the Ministry in collaboration with other stakeholders was working on a national vocational training policy which once approved would ensure that public and private vocational training institutions provide quality education to the youth. “It is the duty of the Ministry of Labour and Public Service to regulate and provide guidelines for the operations of vocational training institutions. We are working with private VTCs in order to harmonise vocational training curricula in the country,” said Madam Hellen, adding that harmonisation would ensure that vocational training provided locally was recognised nationally and internationally. The Undersecretary also urged development partners offering assistance to the Republic of South Sudan in the vocational training sector not to limit their efforts to public VTCs but to extend their support to private institutions as well. Madam Hellen was speaking in the Ministry boardroom when she received a delegation from the St Vincent de Paul Society of England and Wales who had paid a courtesy call on her. The society runs the St Vincent de Paul vocational training at Lologo in Juba. Noting that no government has the capacity to employ all jobseekers, the Undersecretary said livelihood skills gained from vocational training would enable the youth to either get into employment or create jobs for themselves. The delegation which was led by Mr Ian Mawdsley from the UK and Dr Bertram Gordon, the Executive Manager of the Society’s projects in South Sudan, pleaded with the government to exempt training equipment and vehicles meant for vocational training institutions from being charged import duty. They said the goal of the Society was to provide vocational training that responds to the needs of the labour market in the country, adding that vocational skills were the pillars of development in any country emerging from years of devastating conflict. *Reported by Simon Owaka* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oobsDNuzQm_%2BMatKkaxKDRTD7zyZ58gGTA1q7et_wRkuQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
