MTAC skills hundreds of Zombo youths in money-making ventures

Zombo, (UG): The Management Training and Advisory Centre (MTAC) an agency of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has embarked on a five-day hands-on skilling program aimed at building the capacity of youths in Zombo District to engage in job creation and entrepreneurship activities.

The training, executed in partnership with Makerere University Department of Mental Health and Community Psychology is targeting to reach over 150 youths from Paidha Town Council and Paidha Subcounty in the West Nile District.

DailyExpress understands that the five-day training explores seven components that include making reusable sanitary pads, soap, Shampoo, chalk, briquettes, pavers, body jelly, extraction of oil from avocado, baking bread and cakes which are enterprises and products with unbearable demand from the population and therefore easily creating employment for the skilled youth.

Mr Nelson Ogentho, a youth activist from Zombo District told this publication that the skilling initiative is spot on and is something they hoped for in a while to boost the entrepreneurial ability of the youths.

“This [youth skilling training] is one of the things we hoped for because it’s giving us a credit in the sense that the youths are trained in things that can generate for them Money,” said Mr Ongetho.

Dr. Benjamin Alipanga, a lecturer at Makerere University School of Psychology told Daily Express how they plan to sustain the initiative saying in verbatim; “we will organize the trainees in groups so that those who are trained in particular sets of skills form one group so that it’s very easy for them to raise fund to start up meaningful production for the products they have learnt to produce.”

The skilling initiative was based on a comparative survey of factors for development with emphasis on vocational studies hence implementors of the skilling initiative are charged to enrol the training across all the subcounties and town councils of Okoro constituencies with centres in Owenjo Primary School and Zombo Town Council for the remaining lower local government administrative units to catapult Zombo District to a considerable level of development.

Ms Gloria Omwonya, the Human Resource personnel of MTAC pointed to the significance of vocational studies and prayed for its adoption saying; “all we need is skills, yes we can be educated but there will be something lacking these days there are no jobs we need to create jobs for ourselves that’s why we are bringing the skills and creating the awareness.”

This skilling program which initially targeted about 450 youths from the different sub-counties and town councils constituting Okoro Constituency is expected to register massive numbers of youths for the training.