A Commonwealth workshop has been held for 45 practitioners in Namibia responsible for delivering certified youth work courses in Southern Africa.
A Commonwealth workshop has been held for 45 practitioners in Namibia responsible for delivering certified youth work courses in Southern Africa.
The practitioners - responsible for providing support and social activities for young people - learned how to design and deliver courses, teach using e-learning methods, maintain quality assurance and share knowledge with communities of practice.
Namibia’s Sport, Youth and National Service Minister, Erastus Uutoni, opened the workshop in Windhoek and said the event was designed to “build a cohort of youth workers for East and Southern Africa, which is properly empowered to engage and support young people.”
The Commonwealth Higher Education Consortium for Youth Work hosted the five-day workshop in collaboration with the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL). Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda all took part.
The following universities offer a bachelor degree in youth development work in collaboration with the consortium:
- Botswana - Botswana Open University
- Namibia - Namibian College of Open Learning
- Malawi - University of Malawi
- South Africa – University of Venda
- Uganda - Makerere University
Commonwealth head of social policy development, Layne Robinson, said the Commonwealth plans to introduce a post-graduate qualification in youth work for ministers and senior government officials responsible for youth policy design and implementation in member states who would like to share, inform and deepen their strategic thinking and planning.
He said: “The reason for introducing different levels of qualification in youth work is because issues-related to young people are national issues.
“Youth unemployment, youth crime and violence to mention but a few are critical issues that need solutions.”
Commonwealth education advisor Amina Osman said: “Investing in the development of professional youth workers will bring together the persons with the right skills and approaches to engage and unleash the potential of our young people while addressing their unique needs.”
