FCTA: No going back on students entrepreneurship development programme

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has scaled up its drive for student entrepreneurship development in secondary schools across its six Area Councils.

The Administration stated that this initiative has become necessary considering the growing rate of unemployment among the youth.

The Director of the FCT Secondary Education Board, Dr. Mohammed Ladan, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday during the 4th edition of the FCT-SEB Students Trade and Entrepreneurship Exhibition, Competition, and Award Programme, organized in collaboration with the FCTA Department of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement.

Ladan noted that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had expressed interest in empowering secondary schools within the territory to acquire relevant entrepreneurial skills that will make students self-reliant.

He stated that the hunt for young minds with innate entrepreneurial abilities at the secondary school level has become an annual event that will be sustained.

Ladan disclosed that the students, drawn from 88 secondary schools across the territory, are groomed and mentored to produce various goods that can be further improved to contribute to the country’s GDP.

He said, “This competition involves all the 88 schools that belong to the secondary education board. All of them participated. We did the zonal elimination, we did the area council elimination, and we are now at the Grand Finale.

“Out of the 12 schools that participated in the Finals, five will emerge as winners. What plans do you have to further develop the students and what they’ve produced so that it doesn’t end here?”

In her speech, the Acting Director of the Department of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, said that developing entrepreneurship at the secondary school level requires collaboration.

Ahmadu, who was represented by Assistant Director Kate Allison, noted that, “This collaboration is a good initiative that will help promote entrepreneurship in the FCT schools’ curriculum as a policy for young minds for the future of our capital and Nigeria at large.

“The aim of this project is to showcase some of the achievements that our students have been able to make in the field of entrepreneurship over the course of the year. We’ve been doing this annually, and this is the fourth edition,” she added.

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The three-day intensive competitive programme saw twelve secondary schools reaching the finals, with five of the twelve being picked for award recognition. Among the recognized schools were Government Secondary School, Airport Road, which came fifth with fifty-seven percent points.

Government Secondary School Orozo came fourth with fifty-eight percent. The third position, with sixty-four percent, went to Government Girls Secondary School, Dutse Alhaji, while Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada, with eighty-four percent, clinched second position. Government Secondary School Kuduru, Bwari, with ninety percent, emerged as the winner.