Odzala-Kokoua National Park has been supporting vocational scholarships for local youth since 2024, including practical skills training in electrical and automotive engineering.
Investing in the future
In 2024, Odzala-Kokoua National Park in Republic of Congo identified a need for vocational training for young people in communities in and around the park. By facilitating three-year scholarship programmes, the park is empowering the next generation of earners to explore a wider range of career options.
The scholarships include practical skills training in electrical work and vehicle mechanics, both high-demand trades that provide young people with employable skills while contributing to the long-term resilience and development of the wider region.
Building on past successes
The roots of the current vocational training programme can be traced back to 2021 and the park’s Apprenticeship Programme which gave young people the chance to acquire conservation-related skills through placements with park departments.
The current programme builds on this concept of real-world training and hands-on skill-sharing and has broadened the range of training involved. Scholarships now focus on electrical engineering and motor mechanics – skills which are equally applicable within the park and beyond its boundaries.
A partnership for the future
Odzala-Kokoua National Park has partnered with the Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre in Brazzaville, a technical and vocational education institution that provides accommodation as well as training. Ten young people, two of whom are women, are currently enrolled there on these sponsored scholarships.
All ten students successfully completed their first year of the three-year course, and are continuing to add to their skillsets as they embark on the second year. Their courses of study are highly relevant to the needs of the Congolese economy, and will make them highly employable.
Selecting the candidates
From the beginning, the goal was for the vocational training scholarships to be accessible to everyone. Awareness of this opportunity was raised by engaging with young people in communities around the park, and trainers from the Don Bosco Centre then travelled to the town of Mbomo near Odzala-Kokoua for the selection process. This removed the need for candidates to travel to the capital city, making the process more accessible and helping ensure young people could participate in the interview process regardless of financial circumstance.
Each scholarship combines education, accommodation in Brazzaville during term time and transport to and from the students’ homes. The removal of potential financial stresses means that the ten chosen students can fully focus on their studies, and on growing as future electricians and vehicle mechanics.
One of the students Pascal said: “This initiative is a very good thing because after obtaining my high school diploma, I had no alternative and no means to go to university. When I heard about the scholarship selection tests, I immediately seized the opportunity, and today I am learning a profession that will allow me to earn a living.”
The vocational training scheme is opening doors to a different future. Another student explains, “As the son of a farmer, my father did not have the means to offer me a university education. This scholarship is a unique opportunity for us.”
The benefits to the learners are clear, and so too are the impacts on their communities. Increased employability and feasible alternatives to forest-based livelihoods bring the potential to grow and diversify the local economy.
This vocational training initiative relies on the support of strategic partners including the European Union’s NaturAfrica Programme and Stichting Natura Africae (SNA). Their investment in the future employability of young Congolese builds on past support for the park’s educational work from the Rob Walton Foundation, the Legacy Landscapes Fund, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Together, the partners and participants in the vocational training scheme are working towards a more diversified local economy in the communities close to Odzala-Kokoua National Park, through developing alternative livelihood opportunities for ten local young people.