The four-day event held at the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA), seeks to equip young people with the requisite knowledge on life skills for employability.
At the event, Anthony G. Mendy, Director of Tertiary and Higher Education at MOHERST, underscored the Ministry’s resolve to provide support to young people in the field of TVET.
He disclosed that the ministry is appreciative of the close collaboration with the National Commission for UNESCO Banjul and Dakar offices.
He stated that the capacity-building initiative, which will last for four-months is designed to support the full realisation of SDG4, which seeks to provide an inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.
“The objective of the short-term project is to equip young people, most especially girls with TVET and digital skills for improved life-long learning. The capacity building program will focus on digital literacy and auto mechanic air-conditioning repairs and maintenance. The venture is hope to inspire young people to embrace this skill set and enhance their employability skills. The project is expected to train about 60 youths.” he said.
Modou Touray, a representative from NatCom said that digital skills are a range of abilities that use digital devices, communication applications and networks to access and manage information.
“Digital skills are crucial in the transformation of our educational system through the use of technology and enhance learning. Therefore, digital and TVET skills have been a challenge in the country and have hampered the provision of highly skilled-labour forces which are required at this moment. The review meeting is one of the activities of UNESCO participatory program which aims to provide short-term capacity building for the youth to further enhance their skills in their respective fields and digital competencies that will safeguard their life-long learning activities.”
Gaston Mendy, a representative from the University of Science, Engineering and Technology (USET), reminded that USET as a training centre is prepared for this kind of youth capacity enhancement.
He added that they are mandated to equip youth with gainful skills, further describing the initiative as timely and very welcoming.
“If the ministry and UNESCO partnered to train the youth, they are very much prepared to accommodate them for the period of the training.”
