Sierra Leone needs skilled workforce — DG of SLLCA
By Stephen V. Lansana
The Director General of Sierra Leone Local Content Agency (SLLCA), Fodeba Daboh said on Monday July 15, 2019, that there is need for skilled workforce in Sierra Leone.
He made this comment during the celebration of World Youth Skills Day organized by Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) coalition and the National Council for Technical, Vocational and Other Academic Award (NCTVA).
The celebration, which was held at the British Council auditorium in Freetown, was attended by stakeholders in the technical vocational institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), International Organisation for Migrants (IOM), the private sector, TVET students and TVET former students, among others. Products of TVET students were also exhibited. The project is funded by European Union and German government.
DG Daboh disclosed that the work of the Agency is synonymous to the work of TVET coalition which is the reason the Agency is playing critical role in the coalition.
He said that many people do not know the work of TVET and the Agency. “That tells you that there is a lot of work to do. Our Agency is charged with the mandate to ensure that there is a linkage between foreign direct investment and that of the local economy,” DG Daboh said. “We cannot actualize that without putting emphasis on TVET, which means skilled workforce.” He explained that skilled workforce is one of the strategic pillars within the Agency.”
Explaining the background of TVET, DG Daboh said that before the formation of TVET, a lot of studies were done by African Development Bank, and also the coalition, adding that they widely consulted foreign companies in the mining and agribusiness, among others. He emphasized that there is need for skilled workforce in the country, adding that they cannot continue to tell multinational companies that first consideration should be given to Sierra Leoneans when in fact, as a country, we don’t have the requisite skills.
He said that the coalition include private sector, World Bank representatives and government intuitions, among others. He said that whenever the coalition meets, they will ask the private sector about the particular skills they are look for. He said that there is priority trace within the coalition. He added that the World Youth Skills Day is critical to the work of the coalition.
The Director of NCTVA, Mohamed A. Jalloh said that UNIVOC, an agency of UNESCO, is leading the TVET programme in the world. He said that in early 90s, when UNESCO realizes that they needed a specialised agency to take the lead regarding technical and vocational education, they set up UNIVOC.
He said that NCTVA is implementing European Union funded project on technical and vocational education which has four components: first — Sierra Leone TVET diagnostics study; second — Training of TVET teachers. He said that they have realized that the country do not have an institution that trains TVET teachers; third — certification, starting from October this year, NCTVA students will now do online entry for their exam; fourth — establishment of the information platform.
Through the project, he said, t they have upgraded the NCTVA website which catalogs information about the institution and TVET institution centers.
The Director of TVET, Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, Dr. Victor Massaquoi said that the Ministry will be launching the national qualification platform today [Wednesday] which will enable companies to know the various skills available in the country. He disclosed that all the Government Technical Institutes (GTI) across the country are now functioning, adding that government have employed over 40 staff in each of the ten GTIs in the country. He said that these technical institutes are going to be equipped so that young people will be capacitated. He assured of government commitment in building the capacity of youths in the country.
Speaking on the private sector journey, Founder of CEMMETS Sierra Leone, Ing Andrew Keili said that he don’t think companies are aware of TVET qualifications, adding that companies should be seen training people on specific skills that are needed in their institutions, adding that companies should be given accreditation to individuals whom they have trained in skills that is difficult to get, so that the individuals will be able to use the certificate to show that he/she is a professional in that field.
