By: Julia Heita and Justicia Shipena
The Namibia Training Authority (NTA) this weekend produced 15 apprentice graduates in tourism and hospitality.
The graduates are derived from an apprenticeship programme funded by the Bank of Namibia (BoN), with Gondwana Collection hosting them.
Initially, Gondwana took up 16 apprentices, but one apprentice passed on just before graduation.
Deputy director of corporate and communications at Bank of Namibia (BoN), Kazembire Zemburuka, said that they have recognized that capacity building and skills development form the fundamental cornerstones to developing a knowledge-based economy as envisioned in the national development.
“We regard the TVET sector as an enabler of economic growth and socio-economic development through skills development and employment creation,” said Zemburuka.
According to him, BoN’s 2018 annual symposium focused on the TVET brought to light several shortcomings which constrain the sector from realizing its full potential.
“The symposium identified the need for relevance of training programmed as a critical undertaking,” he said.
He added that when apprentices joined the programme, the hospitality and tourism industry was thriving, but it is now the hardest hit by the pandemic globally.
Advising the apprentices, he said: “your hard work has paid off. You have done so amidst a lot of uncertainty and battling a historic pandemic changing how we live, interact with another, and how we work.”
BoN has invested N$4,5 million over three years in the apprenticeship programme.
To date, nearly 500 apprentices are now enrolled in various sought-after areas through apprenticeship by NTA.
Cum laude graduate Davis Kwenani said they were like babies when they started the programme.
Kwenani is also one of the four who received permanent employment by Gondwana upon completion of the training.
“We did not know what was expected of us since we all came from different walks of life,” he said.
Kwenani, the lessons were conducted face-to-face and sometimes were deployed at various lodges countrywide.
“I now know what is expected from me as a tour guide when I am in the south as well as other parts,” he said.
Kwenani said being a guide is not about welcoming your guest and loading them into a vehicle for a drive.
“First of all, we need self-discipline and know the reason why you are a guide and your duties. I am sure we’re trained to be quality guides,” he expressed.
He added that during the training programme, when Covid-19 hit Namibia, the apprentice thought their dreams would come to an end.
“But from the training and encouragement we got, I know that my colleagues and I will make Namibia the number tourist destination,” said Kwenani.
During the training programme, two weeks just before graduation, one of the apprentices passed on.
“We might have lost our colleague, but that does not mean it is the end of the world. We can still change this world as tour guides.”
Martin Wilkinson, who spoke on behalf of the Namibia Academy of Tourism Hospitality’s (NATH) chairperson, Orlando Haraseb, said that the NATH academy managed to produce over 14 050 tour guide graduates since 1994.
“NATH is a non-profit organization, and everything we do here is for free. I do this basically to see young people being trained to do something productive and get an income,” he said.
Wilkinson added the NATH as a non-profit that produces well rounded, well-educated and passionate people to promote the tourism industry in Namibia.
“We don’t want shareholders and people demanding for our profits. We are taking the grid away and putting the passion back in.”
In 2019, the BoN and NTA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The bank agreed to support the programme over three years to cover the cost of 50 apprenticeships in the priority areas of agriculture, tourism and auto-mechanics.
