Twenty young people given an opportunity to spread their wings
The Namibia Institute for Mining Technology (NIMT) and Headspring Investments (HIS) have entered into an agreement whereby 20 young people from Leonardville will be afforded an opportunity to study full time at NIMT, whereafter they will be placed in jobs where they can gain valuable practical experience.
In order to select the 20 young people, a selection committee was formed from the community of Leonardville. On the committee were three teachers, one HR practitioner, one police Inspector and the village’s CEO.
Although it was evident that they youth in Leonardville and surrounding areas realized this as a golden opportunity, the number of applications exceeded expectations. A total of 236 applications were received. The selection committee narrowed it down to 129 applicants, whereafter these 129 had to write a test. Form the results of the test a shortlist of 45 aspirant students was created.
On 14 August 2024, four senior managers form NIMT visited Leonardville to conduct practical tests with each of these 45 aspirant students. The 4 test areas included working with a claw hammer, measuring and identifying various tools, sawing of metal pipes, sawing of pvc pipes and fitting a selection of nuts and bolts.
After the tests were concluded, the 20 finalists were announced. The 20 students will leave Leonardville on 1 September to start their 6-months course at NIMT’s Arandis campus. After successful completion of the 6 months, the trainees will be placed in companies that take on these students, and after 3-4 years of practical experience, the trainees can return to NIMT to be assessed for the National Certificates.