From Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the World Bank, has provided training in a number of skill acquisition programmes to no fewer than 300 students at the Federal Science and Technical College in the Doma Local Government Area (LGA) in Nasarawa State.
The training which is part of the World Bank’s Innovation Development and Effectiveness in Skills Acquisition (IDEAS) Project, was designed to address the problem of young unemployment in Nigeria.
Speaking on Thursday at the Technical Vocational Education and Training exhibition day in Doma, the State Project Manager of IDEAS, Amos Manzwet ,noted that the project’s primary goal was to strengthen Nigeria’s system for developing suitable skills for both the formal and informal sectors.
According to him, the 300 students had been undergoing training in Catering and Decoration, Welding and Fabrication, Building Engineering, and Electrical Engineering since the year 2020, added that the project was also aimed at assisting the students to improve their current skills and develop new skills in order for them to be employable.
“The objective of today’s exhibition tagged “The Role Of TVET In The Society,” is to stimulate the students with skills to impact critical and creative thinking in the engineering design process. It is also to show learners, the practical skills required for a specific trade; making them better prepared for the workforce.
“The TVET day also helps us to create more sensitisation and awareness to our students and teachers to be encouraged to explore career opportunities in skilled trades and professionalism.
“The Federal Ministry of Education and World Bank, will continue to train more students across the state in several skill acquisition programmes to boost the economy of the country in the coming years,”Manzwet .
Earlier, the Principal of the benefiting school, Grace Golen, expressed gratitude to World Bank for initiating the project, adding that it had helped many residents of Nasarawa State to become employers of Labour.
She said, “Today’s world requires entrepreneurial and vocational skills accompanying the conventional education for any nation to catch up with the rest of the world.
“I am actually very happy with the IDEAS project because of the positive impact it has done to many residents of the state. I am urging all the students who have gone through the trainings, not to disappoint the World Bank but to make them proud, so that many more people can also benefit from their programmes.”
The Voice reports the event, which was attended by several state functionaries, featured presentations by several student groups and cultural dance performances, among others.
