The Federal Government has signed an agreement with Training Service Providers(TSPs) to train over 30, 000 youths on market-relevant skills under the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiative.
The government explained that the youths will undergo a six month hands-on training and receive starter – packs at the end of the training.
National Project Coordinator, IDEAS Project, Blessing Ogwu disclosed this during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 217 Training Service Providers(TSPs) under the IDEAS – TVET initiative two.
According to her, the Federal Government is focusing on skills acquisition, especially TVET education in order to improve the economy, gross domestic product (GDP) and reduce unemployment.
The government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, obtained a credit to finance a World Bank-supported IDEAS project aimed at improving the country’s TVET system.
According to the government, the objective of the IDEAS project is to improve skills acquisition in Nigeria using a comprehensive approach and addressing key aspects of the skills development delivery system.
It leverages industry involvement for better labour market fit and crowding in of private resources in the formal training system.
The national project coordinator said: “The objective of the project is to reduce unemployment. We have so many Nigerian youths that are roaming the streets and the government is worried about the state of Nigerian youths being unemployed. That is why the federal government is focusing on skills acquisition, especially TVET education in order to improve our economy, our gross domestic product (GDP) and to reduce unemployment.
“This present TSPs will train over 25, 000 youths in six months. They will undergo hands – on training. At the end of the training, our youths will have something to do. The ones that will not get government jobs will be able to work on their own because the government will equally give them a starter pack that they can start with.
“The trainees will also be exposed to soft loans which the government is also working on for those who will need it to start on their own.
“The government will also give them stipends to enable the trainees to go to the training centres. The government is giving them N22,500 monthly to enable the trainees to move to the centres.”
World Bank Co – Task Team Leader of IDEAS Project, Dr Mistura Rufai, said the TVET 2 sub-component aims to address gaps in the skills ecosystem and youth unemployment by providing market-relevant skills and facilitating job placement, especially for disadvantaged youth with some secondary education but without regular employment.
According to her, the bank has earmarked $70 million for the TVET 2 sub-component.
Rufai said: “The creation of the TVET 2 sub-component under IDEAS responded to the Federal Government’s request to increase the focus on results-based contracting (RBC) for skills training targeted at literate and numerate youth seeking employment.
The sub-component aims to address gaps in the skills ecosystem and youth unemployment by providing market-relevant skills and facilitating job placement, especially for disadvantaged youth with some secondary education but without regular employment. The objective is to provide approximately 75,000 Nigerian youth with market-relevant skills that enhance their employability, including self-employment opportunities.
“The budget for this sub-component is about $70 million, and this is the second batch of training service providers engaged. The project currently has a total of about 325 training service providers and about 40,000 trainees under the sub-component.
