By Jack Acheme, Abuja
The Nigerian Government has launched an initiative to train over five million youths in industry-relevant, entrepreneurial, and income-generating skills of international competitiveness over the coming years.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during the launch of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Initiative in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Alausa said Nigeria has a population of 2020 million with youth population of 70 percent and youths unemployment rate at 53 percent. He said lack of skills have been a bane to the rising unemployed youth in the country.
The Minister said there was the need for the country to train its youthful workforce on emerging skills of international standards/competitiveness, hence the move to train the over 5 million youths in the coming years in 29 selected skills spanning Agriculture, Renewable energy, Automobile, construction and infrastructure, digital and media, creative and fashion among others.
”The portal for the TVET applications opened effective from the date of the launch allowing Nigerian youths to enrol for free training in high-demand skills such as coding, cloud computing, and data analytics among others. He said the selection was based on comprehensive labour market analysis and consultations with industry stakeholders.
”It is on record that successful economies like Germany, South Korea, Singapore, and China used TVET as the foundation of their industrial growth,” he said
According to him, accredited private institutions and skilled artisans will also serve as training centres to ensure scalability and quality delivery and will be paid N30,000 per student per month to mentor apprentices, who will each be paid N22,500 naira for transportation and their other needs.
”Graduates will be given starter kits as well as single digit soft Loan from the Bank of Industry to begin work immediately for them to create job and wealth in the country.” he said.
According to the minister, to ensure transparency and accountability, the government would deploy geofencing technology and National Identity Number (NIN) verification to monitor student attendance and performance as well as use the NELFUND platform to disburse stipends, pay training centres, and manage the programme’s operations.
The minister at the event also announced free education for technical colleges at the federal and state levels across the country. The said the arrangement will cover their accommodation, tuition, feeding among others.
”The students will be given monthly stipends of N22,500,” added the minister.
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje stressed the need for all TVET programmes to be brought under the Ministry of Education for easy coordination, stressing that the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), which aligned with global best practices, should equally remain with the education ministry.
”I also advocate for a N77,000 monthly minimum wage for TVET students to boost enrolment,” he said
Toyesin Adisa, a Nigerian youth at the launching of the TVET, who is certain to applying for the livestock farming training, hopes that at the end of the Programme, opportunities to be self-employed like other youths to be engaged would be created.
With this development analysts believe it’s a new dawn for the youth and the Nigerian economy