Acting Speaker, the movement of the people welcomes the initiative of the North West Department of Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison to address the skills gap challenge, especially in the construction industry. The department has placed 40 civil construction and building students according to their speciality in villages in the Mahikeng area.
The learnership students will gain valuable experience in different trades, including masonry, tiling, roofing and joinery, for the next three months in a number of labour-intensive construction projects. After the practical work, the learners will write an assessment test and earn their National Qualifications Framework Level 3 certificates.
Those contracted for this 12-month programme were 40 unemployed youth below the age of 35. This is one such project to lower the level of youth unemployment in the area and to address the challenge of a lack of professionals in the construction industry. I thank you.