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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq (May 17, 2008) - 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.
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