Sodiq Oyeleke
The Nigerian Institute of Training and Development has urged government at all levels to start training youths on skills acquisition from the basic school level.
It also called on the Ministry of Education to include skills acquisition in the training of youths to augment their theory classes.
The call was made during a press briefing to herald the 25th Annual Trainers’ Conference expected to hold in Enugu.
The Chairman, Annual Trainers’ Conference, NITAD, Mr. Oluwaseyi Kuton, said allowing pupils to get entrepreneurial training would encourage them to be self-reliant.
According to the institute, the teeming unemployed Nigerian graduates lack the needed skills to excel in the industry owing to lack of proper information.
He insisted that there was a need to bridge the skill gap being currently experienced in the country at early stages of the youths.
He said, “This year’s conference is focusing on entrepreneurship and skills gap. The skills gap was caused by our poor education system; this century, education only focuses on the academics and people graduate from institutions without skills.
“We want the government and the Ministry of Education to introduce students and pupils to various skills acquisition programmes from basic school levels to enable them fit for employment when they graduate.
“They must let the students realise that schooling is not about learning to read and write alone by introducing them to ways to go about acquiring skills because each pupil has a unique talent which must be identified and nurtured through skills acquisition programmes right from basic school level.”
The chairman noted that the conference would include different lectures and panel discussions on issues of skills gap, entrepreneurial mindset, economy and employability.
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