VOCATIONAL SCHOOL STARTUP
Bruno Koumedjra shares the vision of Shining in Togo Mission to use their school, Vogan Christian Academy (VCA), to change the lives of students in Vogan, Togo. Bruno also introduces the next step in the growth of VCA to start a Vocation School in October 2021. The Vocational School will offer courses in automotive mechanics, electrical trade, masonry, and plumbing. Your partnership will provide the education and technical skills to train students in specific vocations that will change their lives, their families, and the community as a whole.
Bruno is a huge proponent of higher education but is also convinced that graduating students from our school and sending all of them to college is not the solution. The alternative is vocational/technical training, providing African youth with the skills needed to access the job market, obtain a decent job and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit is the way to go and will get the job of changing the world done faster.
Through vocational training, he would like to empower young people to see them become self-employed and be free from the limits working for a boss imposes on an individual in terms of being Kingdom-focused.
Countries cannot afford to export their young and brightest, which is not, in the long run, a sustainable economic model. Let's find a way to empower young people to become productive members of their own societies and thus reduce the craving for immigration as well. And vocational training is key and the way forward.
FAST FACTS
- VCA has been given written permission by the government to start the vocational school
- Bruno has talked to qualified instructors in each area that have had previous experience teaching vocational trades and are willing to teach.
- Each of these instructors has a knowledge base of the curriculum.
- These instructors would make between $200 - $250 (US equivalent) a month.
- The Vocational School would offer 2 certificate programs:
- C.A.P. –are High School graduates that took Vocational classes. (10th, 11th, 12th grades)
- B.T.S. – is a post-graduate curriculum of three years. (like a Masters Degree in the US)
THE CHALLENGE
Starting a Vocational School is a big goal that comes with a pretty big price tag. The projected cost breakdown is:
- $ 8,000 Mechanics - Engines for hands-on training, tools, jacks, etc. Estimate 10 students.
- $ 4,000 Electrical - Panels, testers, switches, sockets, wire, etc. Estimate 20 students.
- $ 5,000 Masonry - Mixer, wheelbarrows, trowels, desks, chairs, etc. Estimate 20 students.
- $ 5,000 Plumbing - Tools, pipes, fittings, wrenches, auger, etc. Estimate 10 students.
- $ 14,400 Teachers salaries - 6 teachers total: we can start them at $200 a month for the first year since they only have one class to teach in the first year. ($1200 month).
- $ 20,000 Land - two plots of land in front of existing school with room to grow.
- $ 35,000 Foundation and 5 classrooms
- $ 91,400 TOTAL STARTUP
GIFT MATCH
- $10,000 MATCHING GIFT OFFER – We have a donor that has pledged to match the first $10K raised for the Vocational School with a $10,000 donation. It would be a way to “double” your gift to start Vocational School. When you give $25, $100, or $500, it will be matched with $25, $100, or $500 up to the first $10,000. Everyone likes a deal – here’s a way to double your impact and gift.