Young people from KaNyaca participate in technical training thanks to a partnership between the Municipal Council of Maputo City and Swisscontact, Skills to Build project.

Initial vocational education and training, Labour market insertion
28.10.2021
Intending to provide young people with technical skills, improve their living conditions and increase access to vocational training, Swisscontact with its Skills to Build project, in partnership with the Municipal Council of Maputo City, contacted the Machava Public Works Vocational Training Centre to carry out vocational training for young people from KaNyaca district, Inhaca Island. Currently, ten young people (9 boys and one girl) are attending the 16-week course on electricity.

Inhaca Island, located 37 km from Maputo city, has much degraded infrastructure in need of restoration. However, the capacity of local labour is weak and there are no vocational training centres in the district. For the young residents of Inhaca Island to receive training, they have to travel to Maputo City. Due to this challenge, many young people from KaNyaca do not enjoy the same training opportunities as young people from other districts in Maputo City. It is in this context that Swisscontact, in partnership with the Maputo City Council, identified options to offer vocational training. Together with the Centro de Formação Profissional de Obras Públicas, the programme was designed, and the three institutions awarded scholarships to attend the training. These scholarships cover tuition, accommodation costs, and meals for the duration of the course.

Martinha Timbilo is one of the scholarship holders coming from KaNyaka and is attending the electricity course. She believes that the training "is a good initiative for young people like us who do not have the resources to take a course of this kind. I thank you for the great opportunity that you have given us. It is an honour to be part of this group of trainees because in KaNyaca there are no vocational-technical training schools."

According to her, this training helps young people to have new perspectives: “As soon as I finish the course, my perspective is to help the people of my district through my services in the electricity area because the district has few electricians. Working in this area will be a pride for me and for the district of KaNyaca itself.”

For Manuel Maia, also an electricity trainee, the training is the basis for his dreams of entrepreneurship: "After this training, I will be prepared to start self-employment and for the opportunities that arise in the district, and with the income I can help my family."

The expectation is that at the end of the theoretical and practical training, the young people will have the ability to design and install control circuits in homes, install, commission, and maintain electrical installations in homes and apply the rules of hygiene, health, and safety at work. This set of technical skills increases their chances of entering the labour market.

With the Skills to Build project, Swisscontact promotes vocational training in Maputo City and Maputo Province to enable young people to access better jobs and incomes.