Wed, 21 Jun 2017 10:09:54 +0000
By PRINCE CHIBAWAH
GOVERNMENT should take back full control of trades training institutions in order to address the persistent challenges they are facing, National Union of Technical Education Lecturers and Allied Workers (NUTELAW) has demanded.
Zambia has a total of 23 trades training institutions.
“Looking at the number of the institutions, there is no doubt Government can manage to run them effectively,” NUTELAW president Matthews Mwaba has charged. Mr Mwaba told the Daily Nation that poor budgetary allocation, lack of training material and inadequate human resource had affected the operation of the institutions.
“The TAVET (Technical Education and Vocational Entrepreneurship Training) institutions were operating effectively under Government control.
“But now it is a different story because these institutions have no capacity to operate on their own,” he said.
Mr Mwaba said the use of outdated training materials and equipment had made it hard for the institutions to produce good results. “The institutions don’t make much revenue. So their sustainability depends on grants which they get from the Government. And usually the grants are not sufficient and reliable,” he said.
He said the institutions were also struggling to pay workers due to limited resources.
“Many lecturers are leaving these institutions because management cannot pay them well. Imagine primary school teachers are even getting higher salaries than some of the lecturers in TAVET institutions. It’s a sad story.
“We are not saying Government should begin to spoonfeed us but instead should ensure that TAVET institutions are well funded and looked after,” said
