The progress of any country depends on its ability to build a skilled work force, says Vice President Faisal Naseem.

The Vice President made this remark in his address at the graduation ceremony for the year 2022 of the Dhiraagu Apprenticeship Program held at JEN Maldives on Wednesday.

As such, taking the podium at the event VP Naseem praised the telecom giant and its executives for initiating such socially beneficial programme and continuing it for 13 consecutive years in a bid to develop a skilled workforce.

Highlighting that anything can happen at any time in the changing world, VP Naseem stressed on the significance of building a resilient and strong workforce.

The Vice President went on to shed light on the significance the incumbent administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih attaches to the education sector and human resource development, adding that thousands of students have been benefiting from the free degree program and vocational training programmes initiated by the incumbent government.

Encouraging the youth community to never give up on their pursuit of learning new talents, VP Naseem urged them to utilize the opportunities that are available to them.

The ceremony saw 15 apprentices successfully graduating from the Dhiraagu Apprenticeship Program.

The first corporate apprenticeship program introduced in the Maldives, the Dhiraagu Apprenticeship Program is a key CSR initiative of Dhiraagu with the objective of helping develop employability skills in Maldivian youth.

Dhiraagu has been conducting an apprenticeship program since 2009 with a total of 247 young people having enrolled in the program up to date.