The Nigerian government in collaboration with the World Bank have organised a workshop to address current deficiencies in the education system.
The workshop organised under the World Bank sponsored project “Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) has the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Board for Technical Education, Abia, Edo, Ekiti, Benue, Gombe, and Kano States as implementing Agencies.
In a message at the opening ceremony of the workshop, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, called on Nigerian youths to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the project.
“The collaboration between the federal government and the World Bank is part of measures to reduce the unemployment rate in the country and we believe the workshop will reposition Technical Education and enhance Nigeria’s skills development for formal and informal sectors of the nation’s economy”
The Minister added that an estimated 40 Technical colleges in the country, alongside the private sector, will benefit from the project which also has a technical teacher training component.
Adamu told stakeholders that the essence of the IDEAS project is to address the current deficiencies in the education system that have made a large number of school leavers unemployed,
He disclosed that a two hundred million dollar credit facility from the World Bank has been approved for the project and its implementation will span over five years.
The Benue state commissioner for education, Dr Saawuan Tarnongu pledged the total support and commitment of the Government and that of the people of Benue state towards the successful implementation of the project.
As part of its commitment, the commissioner said Governor Samuel Ortom has approved the recruitment of science and technical teachers as well as the erection of perimeter fences for all the colleges selected for the project in the state.
The State Coordinator of IDEAS project, Samuel Kwende, told participants that the training of key players in the chain of the implementation process is a prerequisite for the overall success of the project.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, was represented by the National IDEAS project Coordinator , Mrs Blessing Ogwu.
Dominica Nwabufo
