Congo/Vocational training: rehabilitated training center opens for business

The rehabilitated 8-mars Lycée d'Enseignement Professionnel d'Economie Sociale et Familiale was opened in Brazzaville on March 31 by the Minister of Technical and Vocational Education, Ghislain Thierry Maguessa Ebomé, in the presence of several members of the government.

The rehabilitated facility will serve as a training laboratory and incubator for young people in the hospitality, kitchen, laundry, catering, accommodation, hairdressing and events trades. The aim is to enhance the skills of learners and teacher-trainers, ensure a good match between training and employment, improve the employability and professional mobility of young people, consolidate the school-enterprise relationship, and contribute to the self-financing of education and training.Young learners will be able to take part in practical work and internships.

The refurbishment of this high school was carried out by a local company, with the involvement of students from the Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering streams of the^1-Mayand 5-February technical high schools.The project is part of the Ministry's Productive School Initiative, a management strategy aimed at revitalizing income-generating activities in technical and vocational training institutions, according to their respective vocation and potential.

The project's coordinator, Alain Riches Gouemba Haullier, presented its architecture.It comprises seven rooms in six high-standard apartments, each with a bedroom, bathroom, living room and dining room, two marquees housing a restaurant, a 600-seat party room and a mixed-use hairdressing salon.

The commissioning ceremony included speeches by the Minister for the Promotion of Women, the Integration of Women in Development and the Minister of the Interior.gration de la femme au developpement, Inès Bertille Nefer Ingani, who pledged to work in partnership with the Ministry of Technical and Vocational Education for the integration of young people.

Addressing the learners, she urged them to arm themselves with courage and acquire the skills to become self-sufficient. The school is not just a place to learn, but a lever for empowerment and a tool for social integration," she added.She assured her ministerial colleague of her ministry's close collaboration with certain hotel establishments in Brazzaville.

For his part, the Minister of Technical and Vocational Education, Ghislain Thierry Maguessa Ebomé, recalled in his speech that the hotel was inaugurated on August 29, 2009 by one of his predecessors.On the same occasion, the 8-Mars vocational school for social and family economics was created, on the site of the Collège d'enseignement technique féIt was designed to train girls in fields such as home economics, pre-school education, childcare and clothing technology.

The graduation diploma gave access to the civil service, but had become obsolete and a source of disorientation in high schools." The government, driven by the dual duty of gender inclusivity and guaranteeing harmonious educational continuity for learners in women's technical colleges, hastransformed these colleges into vocational high schools for social and family economics," explained the Minister.

According to him, the inclusive establishments will gradually offer training in the following fields: personal assistance, clothing techniques, tourist guides, hotel management, ticketing agents and pre-school. These courses will culminate in a vocational baccalaureate.

As a reminder, the government has opened social and family economics vocational high schools in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Dolisie, Mossendjo, Madingou, Sibiti, Ouesso, Owando and Ewo.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com/