BY ADRIAN MWANZA –

THE Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) has introduced vocational skills training in schools to encourage youths to be self-sufficient once they completed school.
TEVETA public relations specialist Mubiana Nalwendo said the introduction of the vocational skills training was aimed at improving entrepreneurship once they had completed secondary education.
Mr Nalwendo said this would help youths not to depend on white collar jobs but that they would be able to create jobs for themselves.
He said the programme was called Secondary School Vet or the Two-Tier System which enables pupils to write two exams, one from Examinations Council of Zambia and the other from TEVETA.
Mr Nalwendo said the programme would enable pupils engage in vocational training like in welding and carpentry as well as heavy duty repairing and that they would be practical.
“This programme will enable pupils write two exams one from TEVETA and the other one from ECZ and that pupils will benefit greatly from the programme,” he said.
He said it was a pilot project which was in its first phase involving 34 schools and that the exams would be written in September to enable them prepare for ECZ exams.
“The pilot project has so far started with 34 schools who will be conducting exams for Grade 9 and 12,” he said.
Mr Nalwendo said TEVETA had dispatched members in all the 10 provinces to conduct exams in the various schools.
Meanwhile, Mr Nalwendo said TEVETA had so far closed down three institutions that had failed to adhere to TEVETA regulations.