Lakes state officials in Uganda to learn about vocation education
July 26, 2013 (GULU) – A delegation of five officials from South Sudan’s Lakes state are in the northern Ugandan town of Gulu to learn about vocation education in the district and in turn replicate it in their home state.
The delegation, including the director general of education, director general of public service and human resource, director general of human resources and vocation education and the minister of youth and sports, are in Uganda courtesy of a trip organised by Save the Children International.
“We have come here to learn about how Uganda and Gulu does vocation training and how they interest youth in vocational education. In Lakes state the youth are not interested in vocational education. They are more interested in white collar jobs. But the white collar jobs are not many in South Sudan”, said Lakes state’s minister of youth and sports, William Madong Mading, in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday.
Mading said vocational education as practiced in Uganda could be very beneficial for the youth in Lakes state.
“Our youth have bypassed school going age because of conflict so we want to give them vocation skills that can make them job creators. For example, they can study carpentry and joinery, mechanics and bricklaying. These are important skills for a young nation like South Sudan”, said Mading.
The Lakes officials arrived in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Tuesday, before travelling further north, where they will remain until Sunday, when they travel back to South Sudan.
During their stay in Gulu so far, the Lakes delegation have visited eight vocation schools and have said they will set up a pilot vocation school to benefit youth in the state upon their return home.
“When we go back to South Sudan, we will start a vocation training institute in Lakes to benefit our youth”, said Mading.
Northern Uganda, like South Sudan, is recovering from a vicious conflict. In an attempt to provide skills for former children abducted by rebels from Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the Ugandan government and private individuals have set up vocation schools. The schools provide youth, who because of conflict, missed out on the opportunity to attend normal schooling, with a chance to acquire livelihood skills that wull benefit them in the future.
(ST)