FG, World Bank move to address youths unemployment in Nasarawa

As part of efforts to address unemployment among Nigerian youths, the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with World Bank, has trained no fewer than 300 students of the Federal Science and Technical College, Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, in skill acquisition.

The training which was done under the World Bank’s Innovation Development and Effectiveness in Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project, was aimed at addressing the issue of unemployment affecting many Nigerian youths.

Speaking at the Technical Vocational Education and Training exhibition day in Doma on Thursday, the State Project Manager of IDEAS, Manzwet Amos, explained that the project had a core objective of enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to produce relevant skills for the formal and informal sectors.

Manzwet who further narrated that 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 ones 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,” he added.

Earlier in her speech, the Principal of the Federal Science and Technical College, Doma, 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 on 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.”

Our Correspondent reports that the event which was attended by many dignitaries in the state, featured presentations by several student groups, cultural dance displays, among others.