The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has shifted its focus from distributing starter-packs to graduates of its skilled programmes, opting instead to expose graduates to local and international certifications. This change is aimed at enhancing the skills of artisans and improving their access to better opportunities in the industrial sector.
Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, Director General of ITF, made this announcement following the completion of an assessment for privately owned training centers in Abuja. The assessment, part of the ITF’s collaboration to deliver the Skills Training for the Upgrading of Artisans (SUPA) programme across Nigeria, marks the commencement of Phase II of the initiative.
Dr. Ogun explained that as the ITF moves forward with the deployment and training process for SUPA Phase II, it plans to expand the number of accredited training centers from 880 to 1,500. This expansion aims to help the Fund achieve its target of graduating 100,000 artisans, building on the 29,000 artisans who completed the SUPA Foundation program in Phase I last year and the pool of over 700,000 registered artisans on the ITF’s SUPA platform.
Given that the artisan population is spread across Nigeria, the ITF intends to ensure that each local government area has at least two training centers, thus guaranteeing easy access for artisans. The accreditation process for these centers is thorough, involving an evaluation of their corporate structure, physical infrastructure, equipment, and the competence of their instructors. Centres must first register on the SUPA platform before undergoing this process.
Once the accreditation process is complete, the ITF will release a list of successful training centers, categorising them into groups A, B, and C. The Fund will then begin deploying artisans to the nearest accredited centers based on their residential addresses.
Dr. Ogun further disclosed that the ITF will make substantial investments to improve the capacities of these training centers in line with the goal of achieving international certification. Over 3,000 instructors from the existing 880 accredited centers have already participated in “train-the-trainer” courses to ensure they can effectively deliver high-quality training.
To meet the target of producing 2 million trained artisans annually, the ITF plans to collaborate with 10,000 privately owned, well-established training centers. This collaboration is a crucial part of the skill-ecosystem the ITF is building in Nigeria to ensure a steady supply of qualified manpower to meet industrial needs and provide continuous development for graduates to align them with available opportunities.
SUPA Phase II includes soft skills training in areas such as Project Management, Professional Ethics, Patriotism, and Industrial Health & Safety. For the Project Management component, the ITF is partnering with the Chartered Institute of Project Management of Nigeria (CIPMN) to offer a bespoke certification for artisans in a special category. CIPMN will oversee the examination and certification processes. The training will last for eight weeks, and successful artisans will progress to SUPA Phase III, which will focus on technical training, blending 30% theory with 70% practical skills, alongside entrepreneurship training.