The new Monrovia Vocational and Training Center (MVTC) is set to be completed and turned over in October.

This was disclosed by the Youth and Sports Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe.

The building of the country's premier institution for the training of students in vocational and technical skills comprises of classrooms, dormitories, offices and teachers' quarters and estimated at US$10m.

China Shanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation is undertaking the project.

The completion of the facility will provide opportunities for over 2,000 students, in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

It will also lead to the training of over 15,000 youths, more than what it trained per semester before the reconstruction.

In an exclusive interview Minister Nagbe said the new MVTC would be the first-of-its-kind in the country with the erection of separate dormitories for males and females students, as well as single and family staff quarters, creating a conducive learning environment to achieve the necessary transformative goals.

Minister Nagbe said that upon the completion of the MVTC, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will dedicate the school.

"It's certain because we are told that the new MVTC would be completed next month (October) and immediately be dedicated according to the President's schedule," Minister Nagbe said.

"For the first time, a new comprehensive and validated curriculum of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will be used," he said.

Minister Nagbe indicated that the TVET would play a critical role in government's vision and ambition for the country, describing it as one of the pillars for successful industrialization and life-long employment for its workforce.

"We want a skilled workforce nationwide to support the Liberian economy," Minister Nagbe indicated.

Preparing for the dedication and the new school calendar year, classes have been suspended because of the ongoing renovation on the old MVTC building.

The new MVTC covers about 6,000 square meters. It is being financed by the People's Republic of China.

The MVTC offers several skills training, including carpentry, masonry, plumbing, general construction, refrigeration, air-conditioning among others, which last for 18 months, excluding computer education and runs for nine moths.

It may be recalled that during the groundbreaking ceremony, President Sirleaf, who in the recent past refrained from attending groundbreaking ceremonies, said she had decided to break her own rule and to attend this one because, upon its completion, "this MVTC extension will help provide the skills needed for private sector jobs, which, in turn, will enhance economic growth and development."

President Sirleaf said with approximately 60 percent of the country's population under age 35, and over half under age 20, this is a generation to which her government must pay attention and ensure their access to education.

"People sometimes call our young people the 'lost' generation; but we think they are the 'opportunity' generation," President Sirleaf declared.

In June 2011, the Liberian government and the People's Republic of China signed an Exchange of Letters to build a modern training center to develop employable youth for the job market. The grant assistance for this project falls under China's Eight New Measures for pragmatic cooperation with African countries, which the PRC announced at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.