Skill Stories from Students: Vocational Education in Africa

Ndza Ombre Eve is a first year student of St Mary’s College studying Business Administration. She also gives us a brief in-sight of vocational training in her country, The Republic of Congo. The Republic of Congo is a central African nation blessed with petroleum, timber and copper resources. It was a former French colony of Equatorial Africa and this is what she has to say….

“Sadly, Congo Brazzaville is torn by internal conflicts affecting the entire educational system. Fortunately, the government is making progress in rebuilding the educational structure by adding vocational courses to the curriculum. The introduction of technical courses to our structure has created many job opportunities for graduates. This of course has led to the reduction of poverty and unemployment. I will say, it has raised the standard of living for families in my country. If we give attention to this field in education,

I can confidently say in the coming years, Africa will be on the road to progress. We will move from the status of being the poorest to the richest. We may be growing at a snail’s pace which is actually better than being idle. I urge all African governments, to re-evaluate their educational curriculum, provide training and incentives to teachers, and provide facilities for imparting practical knowledge of the course.”