Enhacing youth employment opportunities: ICT Intergration in YRCs for Skills Training

 By Isaac Chanda   Chieftainess Malembeka enrols for ICT Chieftainess Malembeka of the Lamba speaking people in Mpongwe District, one of the rural districts on the Copperbelt Province, officially enrolled in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Class together with the other twenty five (25) students at Kwilimuna Youth Resource Centre a government owned institution located in Mpongwe District. Kwilimuna Youth Resource Centre, one of the Youth Resource Centres currently supported under the Connect for Change Consortium, a project locally implemented by Ndola Youth Resource Centre has received support in the establishment of an internet enabled Information Desk to serve the following purposes;

• Strengthen the oversight role of the Provincial Youth Office on the Youth Resource Centre through an online network establish within Youth Resource Centre Information Desks
• Meet youth training and information needs by packaging and disseminating information in the form that is widely accessed.
• Raise awareness on the programs conducted at the Youth Resource Centre

The Connect for Change (C4C) consortium is further supporting the establishment of an Information Management System to improve recording and management of information at centre level as well as providing institutional and individual capacity building in ICTs at Kwilimuna Youth Resource Centre in order to integrate ICTs in Centre training and management programmes. The C4C supported activities at Kwilimuna Youth Resource Centre has not only added value to centre activities and management but has also created demand in accessing training and informational services by the young people. This increase in demand in accessing centre activities is what persuaded Chieftainess Malembeka to officially enrol in the ICT class in order to obtain a certificate in basic computer skills. She explained that she intends to use the skills for three significant reasons;

• To help her pursue further education and broaden her understand of various educational literature materials
• To link up with the external world and also effectively market activities conducted in her chiefdom to increase investor presence
• To be a role model that will influence local communities to acquire ICT skills and use them for their positive development

Because of her status within the local community, the Centre Manager decided to train the Chieftainess separately in his office. Surprisingly, after two weeks of attending training sessions, the Chieftainess bought a desktop and is therefore receiving training right at her palace. The C4C implementing partner, Ndola Youth Resource Centre, has provided support in terms of training materials and guidance to the ICT instructor that is conducting training to the Chieftainess. Source: http://www.akvo.org Read Original post on this Link:Enhacing youth employment opportunities: ICT Intergration in YRCs for Skills