The Atlantic Vocational Training Institute on June 12, 2021 held its second graduation commencement and convocation exercise for students. The vocational and technical school graduated over hundred students from various courses, ranging from cosmetology, interior decoration to journalism, nurse aid and auto mechanics.
The Atlantic Vocational Training Institute is one of Liberia’s premier vocational and technical schools, providing comprehensive career-focused education and training to Liberian youth. In barely three years of its existence, the school has shown incredible growth with tangible impact, as reflected in the lives of beneficiaries. As part of the transition process, most graduates are either sent on internship at clinics or at places of work that fall within their area of specialization.
Speaking at the program, Assistant Minister for TVET, Millias Z. Sheriff, challenged the graduates to take advantage of the opportunity to become entrepreneurs. He encouraged them to take advantage of a revolving loan scheme that will be coming up at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Students were inspired to apply and pitch their aspiration. Minister Sheriff thanked the management of AVTI, and promised to continue working with them throughout in empowering the young people of Liberia.
For his part, the Founder, Roland Siddiq Kamara, noted that he has been particularly disturbed by the issue of youth unemployment, thus compelling him to establish AVTI. He further observed that AVTI is not only providing technical and vocational skills to youth, but also inculcating in them the culture of entrepreneurship.
“We provide customer service training to beneficiaries as a way of positioning them to get the best from their customers, thus enabling them to maximize profit,” he further noted. The Founder & Director used the occasion to call on the Government of Liberia (GOL) to help them with subsidy to enable them to maximize the impact they are making.
For his part, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors who doubles as Chief Patron, Youssouf Barry, pointed out that the school has played its role by providing the students with the relevant skills set, the question now is what will they do with the skills that they have acquired. The Board Chair spoke very passionately about the need for everyone to take advantage of the training, and called on the government to buttress the effort of the AVTI.