12 Nigerians pass out from NVTI
The National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) has awarded certificates to 12 Nigerians after nine months of training in general electrical installations.
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They make up the second batch of Nigerians to be trained by the institute in a partnership programme between the NVTI and Amnesty International, Nigeria.
The programme, which started in 2013, trained the first batch of 21 students in welding and fabrication.
In a speech read on his behalf at the graduation ceremony in Accra last Monday, the Executive Director of NVTI, Mr Stephen Amponsah, commended the Nigerian Government for its effort at empowering “her people with employable skills to fend for themselves”.
Essence of vocational training
Mr Amponsah said the current challenges posed by the large number of unemployed youth and the economic hardships facing many countries made it imperative for the youth to look beyond normal academic qualifications.
“In our sub-region, every year graduates in their thousands are being produced for the already super-saturated labour markets, thereby leaving thousands roaming the streets looking for non-existent white collar jobs, while others take to all sorts of criminal acts,” he noted.
He said vocational training offered people the opportunity to enhance their standard of living , alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment, as well as the crime rate.
Challenges
Mr Amponsah said most of the Nigerians who were selected for the programme had challenges with communication, peaceful co-existence and respect for law and order.
He, therefore, urged the Amnesty office in Nigeria to intensify the orientation programme that would be given to subsequent batches to forestall any such future occurrences.
Areas covered
In his welcome address, the Manager of the Pilot Training Institute of NVTI, Mr Maxwell Kofi Zanu, said the trainees were taken through electrical safety, handling of electrical tools and their uses, fire safety, maintenance and inspection among other key aspects of electrical installations.
“They have also undergone industrial excursions at the main power generation points, the Akosombo and Kpone power generation stations. We believe this exposure would further equip them to understand the vocation they have chosen,” he said.