Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS)project under the platform of the Ekiti State Ministry of Education has commenced a 5-day generic training for Master Crafts Persons (MCPs).
Over 100 Master Crafts Persons and 313 apprentices from Ekiti State are set to benefit from the programme, with welding and fabrication, Garment Making /Fashion Designing and Plumbing as selected crafts.
Speaking at the Opening Ceremony to flag off the training programme in Ado-Ekiti, the State Commissioner for Education, Dr Olabimpe Aderiye (mni) said the World Bank Human Capital Index has indicated that Nigerian children were not proficient in human capital formation, and to reverse this trend the World Bank is supporting the Nigerian Government to design and implement a series of high impact result based programs aimed at improving skills and developing a competitive and well qualified workforce, capable of adapting to the changing world market and technological progress.
Aderiye who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Teaching Service Commission, Mr Michael Omolayo charged the participants to take the training programme with utmost importance because currently, attention is focused on the informal sector to support skills development and acquisition, to improve the quality of apprentices produced by Master Crafts Persons (MCPs) in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government to reduce youth unemployment and poverty.
She emphasized that the administration of Governor Biodun Oyebanji is committed to promoting technical and innovation skills, that will make the state the hub for technical experts and technicians of global relevance.
Earlier in his remark, the Project Manager (IDEAS) PMU-NBTE Kaduna, who was represented by Mr Bashir Danmulik said that the ongoing program falls under the component 2 of the IDEAS project, which centres on apprenticeship with the sole aim of enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system in order to promote relevant skills for the formal and informal sectors.
The State Project Coordinator of Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project, Mrs Adenike Akinyemi stated that the preparation for the programme started in April, 2022 with the enumeration of the MCPs in order to ensure that the best hands were employed for the program.
She charged the beneficiaries to ensure that they acquire more knowledge and work together to utilize the knowledge attained during the training.
