J&P Vocational Centre has launched a one-day baking training project at Onayena on 6 May.
So far, more than 1 400 people have benefited from the training programme countrywide.
The Oshakati-based company has been giving baking training since 2021.
Apart from the one-day baking training, the centre also offers counselling, hospitality and baking, computer and cellphone repairs, healthcare and early childhood development training.
The one-day training includes baking cakes, pizzas, biscuits, rusks, pies, icing and cake decorating.
Panduleni Moses, the founder of the centre, says the training consists of theory and practicals.
“The baking training takes about seven hours. First, I take the participants through the equipment to be used (names and uses) and then the recipes before guiding them, following recipes, until they come up with the product,” she says.
Moses says the training was inspired by the slogan of the business: ‘We develop leaders, who develop people and develop businesses’.
“I’ve been looking for a platform to give back to the community, and what I can give is sharing my skills and knowledge with others. Our county has a high unemployment rate and most graduates can’t find jobs. However, with us, they gain skills, which will help them create their own employment and generate an income,” she says.
Moses says the training is open for everyone who has a passion for baking, is willing to learn new skills or start a baking business.
“I have seen how people have improved their living standards after receiving training. No qualification required. The training I offer is affordable and of good quality,” she said.
Moses says she started the workshop at Oshakati, but expanded to other towns across the country due to public demand. So far training has been given at Walvis Bay, Otjiwarongo, Outapi, Grootfontein, Rundu and in Windhoek.
“Baking is very interesting. It is all about creativity. Baking is part of hospitality, which is a very important industry in Namibia,” she says.
Moses plans to take the training project to village communities.
