The Nigerian Government has assured the Africa Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support, ACCESS of it’s support in their commitment to the promotion of African graduate employability through skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.
The government also called on the leaders of countries in Africa to devise and implement strategies to ensure that graduates do not only fit for labour market but should also find job placements.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Andrew Adejo made the calls in Abuja during the year 2023 ACCESS International Summer School and Conference co-hosted by the National Universities Commission, NUC.
According to him, “the National Universities Commission and other stakeholders have, over the years, promoted graduate employability in Nigeria. However, a lot of work is still required considering the dynamic nature of the contemporary labour market and the future of work”
Adejo further made known that all curriculum review exercises in the Nigerian University System have always focussed on bridging the deficit between the needs of the labour market and the training provided in our universities.
“In keeping to its mandate, the Commission has consistently advanced graduate employability through its various curriculum reengineering exercises. The recently unveiled Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) for the 17 academic disciplines and over 220 programmes in the NUS place much emphasis on soft skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, venture creation and digital literacy in view of the labour market expectations in the 21st Century”
The Permanent Secretary further stressed that issues of unemployment and the employability of African graduates will always remain very important following the increasing number of universities in Africa and the huge number of graduates produced annually .
“Therefore, the theme for this Conference “Cultivating New Frontiers in Employability Research for Skills and Career Enhancement “ is very necessary at this time in our development. it is the recognition of the importance of this Summer School and Conference that encouraged the National Universities Commission to accept to co-host this conference as a means of drawing and sustaining the attention of Nigerian universities to prioritise the imperative for an effective academia-industry linkage,“Mr Adejo explained.
The Permanent Secretary emphasized that the conference gives the entire Nigerian University System an opportunity to benefit from the ACCESS project.
Objectives Of ACCESS
The Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission , Chris Maiyaki said the 2003 Summer School and Conference of ACCESS aim to provide and share best practices, glean successful case studies, and evidence-based might that will be in to chat the most effective pathways that would promote the employability and career pathways for our graduates.
The conference will deliberate on strategies for fostering collaborations between the academia and the industry to ensure that our graduates possess the requisite knowledge and skills that align with the needs of the job market.
The Africa Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support consists of seven partner universities across six African countries and Germany.
It was established in 2020 to seek innovative ways to promote the employability of African graduates.
