By Miriam Humbe
Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, (ITF), Sir Joseph Ari has said its Skills Training Centres (STC) located in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Abuja and Plateau and the vocational wings attached to its Area Offices would be converted to hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship (e-Hubs).
The Director General said this at the 3rd Annual Global Meeting of the Forum for Innovation in African Universities in Abuja on Friday.
The event was themed: “Strengthening Africa’s higher education in a post Covid-19 world.”
He said that with the conversion of the Skills Training Centres (STC) to hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship, schools of higher learning in Nigeria and other stakeholders could use these as incubation centres and vehicles for innovation and creativity.
He said: “In all of its over 50 years of existence, the ITF has been at the forefront of innovation in Nigeria.
“The impact of its efforts has transcended the Human Resources Development (HRD) Sector with varying degrees of impact on the sectors of the economy including Higher Education.
“Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), which emerged out of research by the Fund indicating the gap between theories in schools of higher learning and practices in industries is a prime example of one of such innovations.”
Ari said that through SIWES, students of tertiary institutions of higher learning from Engineering Technology and allied disciplines, acquired practical skills in industries before their graduation thereby easing the transition from the classroom to the industry floor.
He said: “It will not be farfetched to assert that the quality of the Nigerian workforce could conceivably have been worse without practical exposure to industries before graduation.
“Other novel practices introduced by the ITF in the HRD sector have served to fundamentally change practices in the sector.
“As a forward-looking institution that places a premium on creativity and innovation, the Industrial Training Fund aligns its policy direction to prevailing global trends and government policy thrusts.
“One such policy and vision review is our current policy direction tagged: Re-Engineering Skills for Sustainable Development, which gave birth to the institutionalisation of the National Apprenticeship and Traineeship System (NATS).
Humsimedia gathered that NATS was a globally accepted scheme to optimise apprenticeship and traineeship and to ensure a seamless transition between formal and informal education.
It is expected that NATS would inevitably lead to the full adoption of National Skills Qualification, which would greatly enhance interaction between industries and the academia.
Ari said: “It will equally prepare graduates of our tertiary institutions for the world of work having undergone internships in industries.
“In addition, it will serve to resolve the lingering problems of certification and standardization of curricula and assurance of standards of our technicians.
“In a way, NATS will enhance efforts to resolve the existing dichotomy between degree and HND holders.”
The event was attended by stakeholders in the education sector.
