7 February 2024
MRM to more than double enrolment at Namanhumbir VTC
The vocational training centre funded by Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) has announced that it will increase the number of trainees from 300 to 700 each year.
The vocational training centre (VTC) was founded in 2018 by MRM, in partnership with the Alberto Cassimo Institute for Professional Training and Labour Studies (IFPELAC), to serve the Namanhumbir administrative post in the Montepuez district, Cabo Delgado. This is one of many examples of MRM’s commitment to ensure that mining profits benefit the local community by improving lives and livelihoods.
The VTC has created opportunities for young trainees in this part of Mozambique since it was established, and will now significantly expand the number of young people it trains, thanks to the addition of a newly constructed workshop gallery on site, which will provide space for courses in civil construction, painting and plumbing, further enhancing prospects of local youth seeking careers in mining and other technical fields.
MRM’s Senior Community Liaison Officer, Lucas Sete, summed up the centre’s importance to the community, saying: “The training that local young people will receive here will enable them to be more competitive in the labour market and will also give them the tools to start their own businesses.”
The VTC has welcomed, on average, 100 trainees per training cycle, with courses in the areas of electricity, plumbing, construction, painting and locksmithing. This number will now rise substantially, thanks to the new workshop. The 2023 academic year saw 322 young people (254 men and 68 women) graduate from the Namanhumbir VTC, equipped to play a productive role in the workforce.
At the graduation ceremony, the partnership between MRM – which is majority-owned by Gemfields – and IFPELAC was highly praised, for bestowing technical and professional training on young people and thereby enhancing their prospects in life. MRM was presented with a certificate of merit by IFPELAC for its contribution to making this possible.
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