Eligible employers encouraged to submit claims to NTA

WINDHOEK, 03 APR – Eligible employers are encouraged to submit claims for the Employer Training Grant for the 2017/18 financial year.

Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), Jerry Beukes said this at a media conference on Tuesday in Windhoek.

Employers with an annual payroll of N.dollars 1 million or more are required by Government Notice No. 5 of 2014 to register and pay one per cent of the value of their actual annual payroll as a Vocational Education and Training (VET) levy on a monthly basis.

VET Levy-paying employers are required to claim within 31 days after the end of the NTA’s financial year, which is the end of March every year, on condition that they submit applications containing evidence of training implemented and the actual cost of such training.

Evidence to be submitted includes signed attendance registers; invoices and receipts from training service providers and training material procured; subsistence and travel costs records; accommodation invoices; assessment and certification records and costs; proof of payment for all costs incurred and any other supplementary records and receipts applicable to the training.

The funds, which according to Beukes are collected by the NTA, is applied on upskilling and training Namibians in key national training and occupation areas.

A total of 35 per cent of the funds are directed to key priority training grants, with up to 50 per cent going to employer training grants, while the remaining 15 per cent is the NTA’s administrative cost.

The training is aimed at better refocusing Namibia’s training system and resources on meeting national socioeconomic development needs, said Beukes.

“Through the mobilisation of additional resources, the quality and quantity of skills development can be accomplished, skills shortages constraining enterprise development can be reduced and productivity and incomes can be enhanced,” he explained.

General Manager of the National Training Fund at the NTA, Joseph Mukendwa said the total registered employers stands at 2 800 compared to 2 600 during the previous financial year, which according to him, is a sign of growth.
Echoing Mukendwa, Beukes said claims have also increased from 15 per cent in the 2014/15 financial year to 18,6 per cent in the last financial year.
“We want to increase it to 20 per cent in the coming financial year,” Beukes concluded.
NAMPA