Government has singled out lack of knowledge among technical college students as one of the contributing factors leading to their lack of knowledge on how to access loans.

According to Minister of Labour Vera Kamtukule, most students from technical colleges have been failing to access loan for start-up capital because of not knowing where to access such funds.

She said: “We used to have to have a programme with a bank which was actually providing affordable financing to graduates form technical colleges as start-up capital.

“However, one of the things that we noted is that there was less sensitisation so much as people didn’t access that facility.”

Kamtukule has told Yoneco FM that as government plans to revamp the programme, there is need to carry out massive awareness on part of the students.

“As a ministry now we are trying to revamp that programme, we want to work with that bank so that people can access the funds.

“But also some colleges especially those that are  being run by Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET), they do provide start-up capital,” she said.

According to labour ministry,  government has three levels of training institutions, namely National Technical colleges, Community Technical Colleges and Community Skills Development Centres.

Currently, there are seven National Technical Colleges, 14 Community Technical Colleges and 28 Community Skills Development Centres.