Pre-WIL Work Readiness and Employability Improvement
Employability Skills Training Course for Pre-WIL programme
Background
The Employability Improvement Project (EIP) was launched in April 2018 as a bilateral technical cooperation project between the Republic of Namibia and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to promote employability skills of students attached to the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).
The implementation of the EIP is expected to benefit NUST students by preparing them for WIL and assist in equipping students with the necessary soft and technical skills required for the workplace. The EIP has been endorsed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, the National Planning Commission, and the Namibia Training Authority.
Employability Skills for Capacity Building
Education and training builds human capital, which translates into improved income for individuals and the national economic growth, and also impacts to the reduction of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. In order to increase such effects of education and training, an interface between classroom-based knowledge and skills and workplace-based skills is needed to convert the value of knowledge and technical skills into added economic value. This interface is called employability skills, also known as soft skills, generic skills, core skills or cognitive skills. Therefore, improvement of employability skills in the education and training system is essential for human capacity development and for the national development.
The EIP is designed to improve quality of workplace-based learning during Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programme. It is also expected to develop more employable Graduates to the labor market as well as to nurture their life-long carrier path.
Employability Skills and Pre-WIL Programme
Employability skills do not only help students to transit seamlessly from classroom-based learning to workplace-based learning, but also change their learning attitude from passive to active.
Such employability skills are extremely important for mindset change and they can contribute to fulfill envisaged goals of the WIL programme.
Taking into account the value of employability skills to the education and training system, EIP is now integrated into the Pre-WIL programme for improving consolidated outcomes of the WIL programme.
What Students Learn?
Employability skills improvement training course involves practical knowledge on Implementation, Improvement and Innovation knowledge summarized in 3i Employability Skills Knowledge model. These 3 components are interlinked each other and produce comprehensive employability knowledge body based on productivity theory. It guides students to logical thinking to analyze core problem, find possible solution, planning, continuous improvement in work process. Applying this process to innovation creation flow for entrepreneur business which is related to job creation.
What Students Understand?
Based on the above theoretical components and through hands-on practices in a simulated workplace in classroom, students experience value of the following sub-employability;
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Critical /logical thinking
- Problem identification/solving
- Creativity
- Self-management including Time Management
- Leadership
Feedback from students and employers
“Most of knowledge explored in this training was new to me and it influenced to my way of thinking about workplace.”
– Student, CPUT
“EIP is helpful for students to increase understanding of authentic work and to overcome their problems in workplace that a novice usually encounters.” - HR manager, Duys component manufacturers, Durba
