The automotive departments from Eswatini College of Technology and Gwamile VOCTIM had an opportunity to tour the Moneni car dealership owned by Stucky Motors. The representatives from the department were led to the showrooms to see latest cars which ranges from Mercedes Benz, Cherry, Mitsubishi, GWM and Haval. Also present at the guided tour was the Taiwan Technical Mission’s Technical and Vocational Skills certification Enhancement Project representatives.

The Vocational Skills certification Enhancement Project is bringing TVET colleges, Directorate of Industrial and Vocational Training (DIVT) and industry together to improve the quality of vocational training in the kingdom. The project contracted ESERPAC to conduct tracer survey for Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) and Gwamile VOCTIM graduates. The tracer survey provided information on the employment and employability of the graduates, identified gaps in curriculum according to industry. The survey further examined both the perceptions of the graduates and employers on the quality and relevance of skills obtained by graduates.

The Project has funded the development of national qualification framework level 2 through to level 4 qualification for electricians, refrigeration and air-conditioning and hospitality and tourism. The qualifications are currently undergoing registration process with the Eswatini Higher Education Council (ESHEC). The qualifications are to be used by; the local TVET institutions to develop curriculum and the DIVT in conducting trade testing instruments and reviewing the apprenticeship training guidelines. The grade test offered by the DIVT will be aligned with the national qualification framework as set by ESHEC.

Currently, this year the Project is funding the development of two qualifications namely welding (and fabrication) and motor vehicle mechanic. The Project and the DIVT invite industry experts and vocational instructors to workshops for the development of the qualifications. The industry experts set the competencies required for a competent employee while the vocational instructors selected from Gwamile VOCTIM and Eswatini College of Technology comment on the academic perspective; workshop requirements and teaching time. The Project fully funds the workshops and the consultant fees to facilitate the development of the qualifications. Additionally, the Project specialist runs parallel workshops like the contracted consultants in facilitating other workshops.

The workshops take the form of a roundtable discussion and the tertiary institutions are able to leverage on the interaction with industries that could absorb their graduates or form some collaborations. The motor vehicle mechanic experts from Stucky Motors dealership had invited ECOT and Gwamile VOCTIM to their newly opened Moneni dealership and further donated some training models like car starter, alternators, radiators, torque converter, hoot etc. The Gwamile VOCTIM college principal Dr. Buyisile Dladla thanked the management of Stucky Motors for their commitment to work with the local colleges and prayed that the collaborations never stop. Mr. Wazy Surtee, the head of faculty for automotive department at ECOT also expressed his gratitude for the visit, sharing of knowledge and donation of teaching models and wished all companies can follow on the footsteps of Stucky Motors.  

The project manager Mr. Baron wang alluded that TVET have to be responsive to labour demand, employer skills and government priorities as he praised the TVET networking and partnership with industries. The dealer principal Mr. Eugene Oelofse reported that Stucky Motors is very committed in training local Emaswati as there are currently only three foreign nationals employed at the dealership while the rest are locals.  He challenged the local colleges to shift away from old school curriculum and embrace the modern technologies so that the graduates can be easily absorbed and their inhouse training be less costly.