Germany has pledged its continued support for technical and vocational education and training in Namibia.

It's for this reason that the Charge d'Affaires at the German Embassy says Germany is in the final stages of launching a project to support the TVET sector with a budget of N$260 million.

Dr. Andreas Götze said this at the Namibia Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Conference in Windhoek.

Dr. Götze says under the project they want to ensure that the performance of the TVET sector is improved in the areas of governance, labour market relevance, and capacity.

This, he says, will be done through the strengthening of the regulatory and steering functions at the macro level, expanding the provision of labour market-oriented TVET, and strengthening institutional capacity for gender-responsive education, training, and development of TVET personnel.

"GIZ ProVET has committed up to N$2.2 million towards the research and innovation initiative and the hosting of this conference. I am also pleased to announce that the BMZ has pledged $1 million on request from the Namibian partners to prolong ProTVET until December 2025 and introduce a skills development compartment focusing on renewable energy and green hydrogen."

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of NUST, Dr. Andrew Niikondo, says there is a need to harness the power of TVET to drive industrialization, foster intervention, and empower the country's workforce to meet the evolving demands of the 21st century.

"This conference provides us with a unique platform to deliberate on strategic policies and partnerships that will elevate TVET to its rightful place as a catalyst for industrialization."

The conference is being held under the theme 'Repositioning TVET as a Driver for Industrialization in Namibia'.