Ekiti revitalises school enterprise programme

EKITI State government on Monday said it had revitalised the School Enterprise Programme in 36 public secondary schools in the state. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Jide Egunjobi, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, made the disclosure at a forum in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Egunjobi said that the 36 schools involved in the project now had functional small-scale enterprises from which students could learn to become future employers of labour.

“These enterprises can help to reduce the rate of unemployment among youths. The affected industries include bakeries, poultry farms, feed mills, garment-making enterprise, piggery, tie and dye.

“Others are production of custard/beverages, soap making, block making, nylon packaging, production of plantain chips, among others,” he said.

Egunjobi recalled that the administration of Governor Ayo Fayose had, in his first stint in office, introduced agriculture into the schools’ programme.

This, he said, was part of the efforts to impart basic agriculture and entrepreneurial skills in school age children, regretting that subsequent administrations had, however, abandoned the project.

The aim of the programme, he said, is to build the capacity of youths, make them self-reliant, create jobs, reduce unemployment, generate revenue and guarantee food security.

He said that the state had already begun to reap the dividends of the programme.

According to him, the book making factory at the Eyemote Grammar School, Iyin-Ekiti, produced a significant percentage of the exercise books used for the World Bank-sponsored State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP) in the state.

Egunjobi added that the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills should not be limited to the school age children or youths.

“There is also the need for workers, especially those in the public service, to look for some productive ventures that will not unduly interfere with their schedules of work.

“Workers in the state should learn from the experience of the country’s economic recession, which has led to the irregular payment of salary and pensions.

“It is important that these workers adequately prepare for their eventual exit from the public service,” the commissioner said.