National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) Awards Foremanship Certificate to 49 Scholars

Malawi- The National Construction Industry Council of Malawi (NCIC) awarded foremanship certificates to 49 scholars during a graduation ceremony held at Lilongwe Technical College, writes Benson Kamonjola.

The move is aimed at promoting infrastructure development in the country.

In his speech, the Chief Executive Officer for NCIC, Gerald Khonje, encouraged the graduates to apply the knowledge acquired during the 12-month training period to address challenges affecting the construction sector in Malawi.

He also emphasized the need to address corruption in the country for construction and development to succeed.

"As NCIC, we have put in place different interventions to fight the vice.” Providing skills and knowledge is one of the measures among many," he said.

However, Khonje expressed his dissatisfaction with the low turnout of girls in the field of foremanship.

He called for more girls' participation in the construction industry, inviting them to take courses ranging from Project Management to Principles of Construction Survey and Supervisory.

Meanwhile, the guest of honour, Lloyd Ndau, a representative of the NCIC board, urged the graduates to use the skills they had acquired during their training to effectively develop the construction industry in Malawi.

Esther Kayakonera, the class representative, encouraged her fellow youths to opt for vocational skills in the fight against poverty among youths in Malawi.

"As youths, we often think that the best job is a white-collar job, forgetting that vocational skills also pay," she said.

Out of the 49 awardees, 10 were girls and 39 were boys, a fact that Khonje found worrisome.

"We need to do more to encourage girls to take up vocational skills in the construction industry," he said.