Vocational Education in Namibia

Vocational education refers to a system or course of study which prepares individuals for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities. Vocational education is non-academic by tradition, it is specifically trade, occupation or vocation oriented.

In most countries, vocational education is successfully implemented through Competency Based Approach (CBA) education and training.

The most industrialised countries such as Germany, Japan, China, UK, US, Korea etc. are renowned for their fluent operation of vocational education and training systems. Could Namibia learn a thing or two from these countries? They say if you aspire to become an effective auto mechanic, you ought to learn from the most effective auto mechanic.

In the early years of independence from 1990, it became clear that the government alone could not provide sufficient jobs for the number of school leavers in a growing population. The overall strategic plan of the Namibian government then was to diversify and accelerate economic growth through academic institutions of higher education to lay the necessary foundation for the acquisition of basic skills and knowledge necessary in the job market.

It was only in 2007 onwards that an increasing emphasis was placed on improving the level of skills and quality of the education and training system through Vocational Education and Training (VET). This led to the promulgation of act number one of 2008, the Vocational Education and Training act of 2008, (government gazette, 2008).

Despite the establishment of the Namibian Training Authority (NTA), guidelines for the effective execution of VET in Namibia remains a challenge since independence. In most industrialised countries, VET occupations are placed within specialised companies to render training to the aspiring trainees in a unique occupation. This would mean that a student who wishes to pursue careers in telecommunications for instance, would be under the jurisdiction of telecommunication companies for training (both theoretical classes and practical classes).

This approach to VET implementation is advantageous in the following ways: It provides a great opportunity for trainees to learn theory and practice in the real world work environment; it links trainees to the industry, it allows effective control of numbers of graduates, vocational skills and knowledge required by the industry; it provides the industry with an opportunity equip trainees with skills and knowledge most appropriate to the work environment.

Vocational education and training (VET) has long received less favour from all sorts of age groups and classes of people in Namibia. The statistics of poor student enrollment at the Vocational Education and Training centres in Namibia is evidence to statement above. There seems to be international trends of lower levels of interest in people with regards to vocational Education and training.

According to Law (2007), VET is often viewed negatively by society. Law (2007) further states that VET is also the ‘weakest’ link in the total education system in many countries. In contrast, parents today continue to cherish the hope and aspiration that their children will make it to university. This intense desire to pursue a university degree generates unrealistic expectations amongst parents and adds pressure in schools. The consequence is a prejudice against and less than positive image of VET and all its negative associations with those who are less academically inclined. Yet, the greatest gaps in human resource development are in vocational education and technical skills.

If we ought to realise vision 2030, even in 2045, we need to address the misconceptions of vocational education in the colonially brainwashed minds of our people. In the colonial error, we suffered so much so that our minds were conditioned to assume that everything ‘overall’ is slavery and low ranking.

Dear country men and women, there is more wealth in VET than other training courses offered outside vocational education and training set-ups. Now is the time to change our mindset, let us equip ourselves with the relevant vocational skills and knowledge that will greatly contribute to the realisation of vision 2030 through job creation and poverty eradication.