TVET Coalition Host first Job Fair
On Thursday 19th April 2018, the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Coalition has hosted the first Job Fair for young Sierra Leonean at the British Council Hall in Freetown.
In an exclusive interview with the Project Delivery Coordinator of the British Council Department, Umaru Fofanah, he said that TVET Coalition is an alliance that is composed of Government institutions, Training Providers, International Donors, the private sector including Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Bi/Multilateral organizations.
The Project Coordinator stated that, their primary objective is to support the government in its mandate to improve the quality and employability of TVET graduates in Sierra Leone by aligning the demand with the supply of Skills and competencies adding that the coalition also intends to create an environment that will promote the development of private sector in Sierra Leone and positions the country as an attractive investment destination.
Mr. Fofanah therefore noted that, TVET Coalition was hosting the job Fair in order to bring together job seekers that are currently in Secondary/Vocational education and their potential or future employers.
He said, the job fair will give employers the chance to address a large audience indicating their staffing needs, selection criteria and the opportunities to potential future employees adding that it will bring vocational institutes and other training providers to the platform so that students can find out where to study and what a specific job requires and affirmed that the coalition aims to establish a clear pathway for students to become outstanding employees in the future.
He added that the Job Fair is an opportunity for job seekers to witness a range of practical workshops managed by job providers like Africell, Cord aid, Sierra Rutile, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) covering a range of areas from enhancing skills needed for finding jobs in the different sectors like telecommunications and mining to empower young people. He said the British Council offers the opportunity to take an on-line test which will measure the English communication skills necessary for effective employment for young people.
He said the job fair itself has brought together hundreds of job seekers with training providers and private/public sector institutions along with Government, NGOs and bi/multi-lateral organizations adding that five hundred job seekers have already registered for the job fair and that there were over twenty five booths representing up to one hundred employers and the also the fourteen key sponsors that include ,UN, Welt hunger Hilfe, British Council, Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, Africell, Afriquia, save the children ,TOTAL Company, Afrigas, giz, Cordaid among others.
Speaking on behalf of Afrigia, Human Resources Solutions, Maryam Darwich said, the job fair is a useful initiative to encourage more young people into lucrative opportunities and that it will increase private sector participation.
“We need a young and competent workforce to facilitate development”, said Afrigia HR solutions, adding that they will continue to encourage young people to have the required training and skills to improve job seekers or students; a process she said will put the country’s employment needs to rest in the near future.
“Interest in the job fair has been enormous and far more wishing to participate by both as job seekers and sponsors than we can accommodate this time round”, she concluded.
In her short interview with this medium, the Project Manager, Schooling for Life, Sjierly Pereira told job seekers to make use of the golden opportunity to excel in their various careers adding that the job fair will yield good fruits with the turnout of the workshops.
“This is a good time for change which also encourages investment in tomorrow’s Sierra Leone and most importantly by producing the high quality TVET graduates who will make this a reality. The job fair has marked an important stepping stone in this journey”, Sjierly Pereira lamented.
By Alhassan Bangura
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