Three Paarlites have put their heads together and are planning to open a training centre in Paarl East to address the great need for vocational training among the youth.
Bertie Theart, a retired mechanical and industrial engineer, made contact with Pastor Bjorgan Morrie of the Gathering Congregation who nominated Gilbert Arendse to find a team of well-equipped individuals from the local community to get involved.
After meeting with numerous leaders in the community as well as headmasters of schools in Paarl East, they agreed that the desperate poverty in the area cannot be improved if the unemployment crisis is not addressed by vocational training for the youth. Learners who are more technically inclined tend to drop out of high school due to the academic subjects taught there.
“They should be provided with technical and entrepreneurial skills with which to earn an income and create a future for themselves,” said Bertie Theart.
The team plans to develop a training centre consisting of a technical school along the lines of the Jakes Gerwel Technical School in Bonnievale and the Struisbaai School of Skills as well as a TVET college, but would like to offer training without charging the fees that TVET colleges do. They hope to arrange in-service training with local businesses during, and on completion of courses. The Paarl Vocational Training Centre (PVTC) has been registered as a non-profit company.
The planned curriculum will include subjects such as home-based care, sewing, arts and crafts, computer applications, beauty and hair, hospitality, general maintenance, electrical wiring, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, and so on. There will also be a career planning and employment section providing mentorship as well as a life-skills development section. The school will start at Grade 8, preparing the learners for the Grade 9 entry level of the TVET College. The latter will qualify them with an NQF 4 qualification through full-time study over three years or by means of short courses earning credits to eventually also qualify with the same certification. The first Grade 9 intake is envisaged for beginning of 2025.
In preparation for this short courses (6–8 weeks) will be established which will be focusing on the hand-skills, supported by the theory required to master and apply these skills. For this purpose, they approached Monte Christo Miqlat NPO (MCM) use the Tiffany’s facility, currently run as a multi-purpose community centre in the hub of the community of Paarl East. MCM currently utilises Tiffany’s to offer pre-school and after-school classes, run a number of feeding programmes and the premises also house IT and sewing workshops.
To enhance the safety of the children, PVTC will only offer the typical “soft skills” such as IT, Sewing, Arts & Crafts, Caring, and Photography at this facility. It is planned to offer practical, on-the-job-training at selected businesses, factories and farms as part of these courses.
Negotiations are currently underway with the Drakenstein Municipality to make available one of their vacant facilities in the Paarl East area suitable for the training of “hard skills” such as masonry, welding, motor mechanics, woodwork, hospitality and beauty & hair. This facility will then be revamped into a training facility and equipped with the necessary container-type workshops.
The TVET College entry level for the short courses will be Grade 9 or 16 years of age up to adulthood.
Special fundraising projects for donations in kind, as well as “Funding a Learner/Student” schemes will be implemented. Any company interested in supporting this programme can contact Gilbert (Gillo) Arendse on 081 309 6457, which potential students can also phone.
