Al-Kut Vo-Tech classes graduate

Photo By Sgt. Daniel West | A sewing school graduate from the al-Kut Vo-tech center accepts a sewing machine from Lt. Col. Rob Jones, deputy commander of Provincial Reconstruction Team Wasit during her graduation ceremony, May 12. The machines were provided by PRT Wasit.  

AL KUT, IRAQ

05.16.2008

Story by Sgt. Daniel West 

354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Sgt. Daniel T. West
354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – Sixty students at the al-Kut vocational technical center graduated May 12, after a two-month course of instruction.

The graduating classes included 40 students from a sewing class and 20 students from a computer-repair class.

The Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team provided starter kits for the students at the graduation ceremony to assist them with their transition into the work force.

"The kits are meant to minimize the requirements to start working," said Capt. Caroline Pogge, of Danbury, Conn., Company B, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion. "We provide the tools to start their job immediately."

The center has seen a boost in enrollment since the PRT began providing the kits.

"Based on the starter kits, we've seen an influx of new students," Pogge said. "The new sewing class has 52 students."

The center is government-funded, and anyone who comes to register is enrolled, said Ammar, a school representative.

Courses run from two to four months and cover subjects in masonry and construction, auto repair, sewing, carpentry, computer repair, metalwork and milling, Ammar said.

The center helps ensure unemployed citizens in Wasit have an avenue to develop their technical skills, Pogge said.

"It enables folks to have other employment options, so they are not forced to turn to other means," she said. "It helps productive members of society, so they don't need to rely on state assistance."

Pogge said students who attend the Vo-Tech do face some challenges.

"People are not afraid to go," she said. "The issue isn't security, but paying for transportation and daily life needs for the months that the students are gone to school."

However, the classes will help students provide for their families in the future as their technical skills turn into new employments and jobs in the area.

• Date Taken: 05.16.2008
• Date Posted: 05.16.2008 16:43
• Story ID: 19488
• Location: AL KUT, IQ