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JAN, KPMG empower students with leadership, STEM skills

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) has partnered with KPMG Nigeria to implement the JA Career Success Programme aimed at preparing senior secondary students for the future and helping them solve challenges in their communities.

According to JAN, the career success is a seven-week programme that equips students with the skills required to earn and keep a job.

For this edition of the programme, currently ongoing in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States, 300 students from six secondary schools across the country are empowered.

The models for the programme cover key areas and top skills like the 4Cs − critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Others are soft skills, work priorities, STEM, personal branding, job-hunting tools; resumes, cover letters, interviews, digital profiles, and skills needed in high-growth/fast-paced industries.

The Executive Director of JAN, Foluso Gbadamosi, noted that the partnership with KPMG gives them another opportunity to reach more Nigerian youths with their transformational curriculum, thereby impacting them with entrepreneurial, work readiness and STEM skills.

She stated that with the JA Nigeria-developed curriculum, the beneficiaries are equipped with the necessary skills for employment in today’s job market and are also encouraged to make improved decisions for their future.

She added that, in a world competing for the creativity of the best minds, preparing young people to thrive in such a world has become important.

Gbadamosi emphasised that they are driven by the need to constantly nurture and expand the potential of young Nigerians as they prepare them not only to become locally competitive but also to thrive on a global stage.

She said that in the last edition of JA Career Success, it was revealed that 87 per cent of the students that completed the programme realised the importance of staying in school. She added that they believe in their student’s ability to successfully perform tasks and achieve outcomes as reflected in JA’s Theory of Change and self-efficacy.

“We have the responsibility to teach young people new things and ultimately help them to build thriving communities,” she said. “I would like to thank KPMG for partnering with us to prepare the next generation for employment and entrepreneurship, even as we continue to contribute to the attainment of United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) 1 and 4.”

The Senior Partner of KPMG West Africa, Mr Tola Adeyemi, reiterated that KPMG is committed to inspiring confidence and empowering change; and that is why they are passionate about the work they are doing with JAN to empower young people with the potential to become the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and change-makers.

“We are committed to supporting community and social vitality through education and life-long learning, with a strong focus on equipping students who are underserved, particularly for socio-economic reasons, with critical and essential skills for career readiness and success,” Adeyemi said.

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