This year’s edition of the Ready Set Work (RSW) project of the Lagos State government ought to have been in session and rounding off stage by now.
Then, some business ideas and ventures, either as sole or joint proprietorship in various sectors of the economy would have evolved from participants.
But that is not the case at the moment. The programme has been put on hold since October 2018 when the last set graduated and the intending participants for this year’s edition have been waiting for registration yet with no commencement time in sight.
RSW is an initiative of the Lagos State government, which commenced under the last administration. It was designed to sharpen entrepreneurial knowledge and skills of final year students and their immediate juniors in both the public and private tertiary schools in the state, ahead of their graduation.
The philosophy behind that, according to the then governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, was that irrespective of ownership of tertiary institutions in Lagos State, the government should be able to add its own value to graduating students and make them really employable and ready for the world of work either as employees or employers.
And since then, participants have continued to grow peaking at 37,500 cumulatively, comprising 7,500 in final year and 30,000 in their penultimate year, in three years.
Though, the programme is voluntary and free of charge, it is painstaking and demanding as every participant must have to make 87.5 per cent minimum benchmark in attendance, class participation and home assignments, to graduate and be awarded a certificate.
They were trained free of charge by the volunteer seasoned and dedicated professionals and entreprenuers in various fields for the period.
During the last edition, which ended in October, 14 small-scale enterprises, which cut across agriculture, healthcare, foods and beverages, footwear, information and communications technology, among others, were established.
Now, the intending participants for this year’s edition are no longer comfortable as to when exactly they will have the opportunity to benefit from the scheme, especially as they are rounding off their programmes in school.
They said they were seriously looking forward to the programme, which was why they registered their participation with RSW Online Academy for foundation course last year.
They said projects such as RSW, which is considered as great investment in students and in a country such as Nigeria, where many fresh graduates are considered as half-baked and unemployable in the labour market, ought not to have been interrupted or discontinued for any reason.
Interestingly, Tribune Education’s checks on the dedicated website for the programme revealed there has been no activity going on for a long time. The latest information on the website is of October last year and concerns the graduation ceremony of the last set.
Students and other stakeholders have therefore called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to, without delay, look into the RSW project and do the needful in the interest of the society.
and then