The Katutura East Youth Forum is urging young individuals to broaden their horizons beyond the conventional path of progressing through grades 11 to 12 for education and qualifications.
Fhulufhelo Ramphaga, chairperson of the Katutura East Youth Forum, said this at the Katutura Youth Forum event, held in Windhoek over the weekend.
The event hosted the educational information sharing session to provide insight to pupils who wish to further their studies at tertiary level.
The session focused on scholarships and self-employment opportunities, soft skills for the job market, courses offered by tertiary institutions for the job market, as well as comprehensive information on accredited institutions by the National Qualification Authorities (NQA).
The motivation behind the education information sharing session hosted by the forum, according to Ramphaga, stemmed from the concerning trend of pupils failing in recent years. Many of these pupils remained at home primarily due to a lack of information.
“We want to inform them that there are alternative ways of getting their desired qualification rather than the traditional way of going up till grades 11 to 12 and then to university,” she said.
“We need them to know that with just a Grade 10, one can do a certificate, a diploma, then a degree. Before applying for a certificate or diploma, it is imperative that you verify that the specific subject institution is accredited by NQA,” Ramphaga said on Saturday.
“Every young person should try to get in touch with the constituency leadership to join these groups and get all the educational information.”
She said the Khomas Regional Youth Forum provides mentorship and training programmes for pupil interested in pursuing self-employment and some organisations, such as the City of Windhoek, host business training or leadership programmes every year.
“With that, the Katutura Regional Youth Forum then sends interested individuals to participate in these training sessions.”
The session was attended by Grade 11 pupils, who received answers to their questions and guidance in their respective educational paths.
They were also representatives of the Tulipohamba Training and Assessment Institute, which outlined the courses offered and their requirements.
The Katutura Youth Forum is part of the Khomas Regional Youth Forum under the National Youth Council, an organisation that represents and advocates for the interests of the youth in Namibia, with the mission to foster a sense of national identity and unity and to create awareness of social issues.
This year, the Khomas Regional Youth Forum planned the educational information sharing sessions in all the constituencies within the Khomas region, with the first one kicking off at the Katutura East Constituency office on Saturday.
Over the last four years, 79% of pupils who wrote the Grade 11 national examinations have not qualified to proceed to top tertiary institutions or Grade 12. This represents 120 468 out of 152 686 pupils who sat for the exams.
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