BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Thanks to Eswatini partners, the Republic of China (Taiwan), DIVT, and ECOT’s face will change.
DIVT is the acronym for Directorate of Industrial and Vocational Education and Training and ECOT stands for Eswatini College of Technology.
The Government of Eswatini yesterday received equipment worth E5.2 million from the Government of Taiwan for the upgrading of the electrical and wireman trade testing workshop at the DIVT and the upgrade of ECOT’s Hospitality and Tourism kitchen.
Receiving the equipment was the Ministers of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi and Education and Training Lady Howard Mabuza. Also present was the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati.
The donation was been made under the Taiwan Technical Mission’s Technical and Vocational Skills Certification Enhancement (TVET) project.
Minister Buthelezi said the equipment would facilitate the acceleration of service delivery and minimize trade testing backlog in electrical, which was more than a thousand candidates a year.
“The equipment at ECOT will also assist the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in establishing Trade Tests for Hospitality and Tourism for the first time, an area with a huge potential for enhancing economic growth,” said Buthelezi.
The Minister of Education and Training said with the kind of equipment the institution was receiving yesterday, the quality of training that their students would receive would definitely surpass expectations.
“Our graduates will not only exit to seek employment, but they can also now explore other options such as delivery and takeaway, merchandising, and cook-at-home meals.”
“I am confident that we will be able to produce confident and industry relevant graduates who will be able to secure employment not only within local industries but even across borders. This comes at a time when the country is repositioning itself to accelerate growth and to ensure attainment of value added productivity, reduced unemployment, and improved standards of living,” said Mabuza.
Taiwan Ambassador His Excellency Jeremy Liang said they could not take lightly the impact that this project would have on the economy of Eswatini as skills have a major role to play in uplifting the economy and the TVET sector was a major contributor to the skills base.
“We believe this equipment will improve the trade testing capacity and render the beneficiaries competent in their trades nationally and internationally,” said Liang.
