37 youth receive computer training certificates
RUNDU - The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology ( MICT) on Wednesday awarded certificates to 37 youth in the Kavango East region who completed a three months training in basic computer.
The training was conducted through the ministry’s basic computer literacy training programme, which is provided for free. Speaking during the award ceremony, Kavango East governor Bonifatius Wakudumo has praised the ministry’s effort to equip the youth with essential computer skills.
“First and foremost, let me commend MICT Kavango East for coming up with the initiative of training our youths in the basic computer literacy programme. This programme was initiated in line with the ministry’s strategic programme for 2017-2022 to accelerate ICT development in the country, with the primary goal of ensuring that Namibian youths can operate a computer,” he said.
“ICT is a vital tool in achieving our main national priorities of economic growth and development towards poverty eradication and shared prosperity for all. Thus this training is very imperative as it is going to contribute towards the goal of leveraging ICT to unlock economic opportunities.”
Also speaking at the event, MICT Kavango East regional head, Menette Hiyavali said the importance of this basic computer skills programme cannot be emphasised enough, the world is changing on a daily basis and technological advancement are occurring worldwide and thus Namibians have to catch up.
“New opportunities that are available are mostly available online which include employment and educational opportunities and if one does not know how to access the computer or how to go online even with the use of a smartphone, they wouldn’t access these opportunities and will be left out,” Hiyavali said.
“As the MICT, we took this classes very seriously and we tried to impart as much as we could in this students and we hope that these classes will make a difference in their lives and our community,” she added. The training programme that is conducted across the country is geared at aiding Namibia to become ICT literate, all Namibians to be able to use computers by 2030. The ministry aims to train about 1000 beneficiaries countrywide by 2022.
In Rundu, the computer literacy training programme was launched in June.
Nedbank and NamPower supported the training programme by providing power banks, backpacks and USBs to students who got their certificates.