Mbabane– Eswatini is looking to establish a National Trade Testing Centre to address delays in the assessment and certification of people who acquire technical and vocational skills.
Minister of Labour and Social Security Hon. Phila Buthelezi said the country currently relies on facilities at tertiary institutions for practical trade testing, which contributes to a backlog as candidates have to wait for the institutions to make their facilities available.
Buthelezi said the proposed centre would provide a dedicated facility for trade testing and help strengthen the country’s skills assessment and certification system.
He was speaking during the Trade Test Certificate Awarding Ceremony, where 349 successful candidates received certificates after being tested in various trades, including sewing, plumbing and other skills.
The Minister said skills development was central to Eswatini’s economic transformation and urged the certificate recipients to use their qualifications to create opportunities rather than wait for employment.
“Skills are not simply qualifications on paper. Skills are productive assets,” Buthelezi said.
He encouraged the successful candidates to respect their qualifications and use their skills to establish businesses, provide services and create employment opportunities for others.
Buthelezi said the country needed more pathways through which young people could translate their skills into productive economic opportunities.
The ceremony was described as the first of its kind in which trade test certificates were awarded in the presence of the Minister of Labour and Social Security.
Deputy Director of the Department of Industrial and Vocational Training (DIVT), Macakala Dlamini, said people did not acquire their skills through the same route, making trade testing important in formally recognising competencies acquired through different pathways.
The 349 candidates were supported by the European Union through the Skills for Youth (S4Y) Programme, which contributed to the trade testing process.
Among the successful candidates was Bonakele Dlamini, who underwent trade testing in fashion design.
Another candidate, Bafana Dlamini, who was tested in plumbing, said receiving the certificate would open opportunities for him.
Buthelezi thanked the European Union for its support towards skills development through the S4Y programme, saying partnerships that invest in people’s capabilities were important as Eswatini works to address youth unemployment.
He also expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Education and Training, training institutions, trade test panels, trade testing officers and S4Y officials for their contribution to the process.
The Minister said practical trade testing requires workshop facilities, but the current reliance on tertiary institutions creates challenges because assessments have to be scheduled around the institutions’ availability.
He said government would continue working with development partners, training institutions and industry to strengthen skills development and ensure that the country’s certification system remains credible and responsive to the needs of the economy.
Buthelezi said the successful candidates should use their skills to contribute to economic development and create opportunities for themselves and others.
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