- Enabling a new and inclusive pathway to career oriented learning through an industry-led national apprenticeship and training system.
The United Kingdom (UK) government will on Wednesday launch the Skills for Prosperity Nigeria (S4P-N) programme aimed at equipping youths and vulnerable groups with skills that offer them a more attractive pathway into employment and meeting employers’ needs for a more skilled workforce.
The global skills programme which would be implemented for two years in Nigeria, is funded by UKAid. It is already in operation in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines and South Africa.
According to a statement by Ndidiamaka Eze, Press & Public Affairs Officer of British Deputy High Commission, Lagos, “in Nigeria, S4P-N will support an improved, National Apprenticeship and Training System (NATS), that will help the private sector to meet workforce demands, help youth into decent jobs and ensure these benefits are shared equitably.”
The statement noted that the official launch of the S4P-N programme will be held in Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos this September, and will bring key Government stakeholders at national and state levels, UK High Commission officials and skills development actors together, to formalise partnerships.
Specifically, while the official launch will kick off in Abuja on Wednesday, that of Kaduna would take place on Friday while the grand finale in Lagos is billed to take place next week Tuesday.
Speaking on the programme, the UK’s Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Ben Llewellyn-Jones said: “The UK has a global reputation for education and skills characterised by excellence and quality. We will support Nigeria to strengthen her skills development systems to produce a more competent technical workforce that increases productivity and economic development”
In Nigeria, the programme will be delivered through the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), a government agency under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, with a primary goal to institutionalise formal apprenticeships linked to industry, facilitate traineeship opportunities for youth leading to paid employment and improve vocational enterprises for vulnerable women and Persons Living with Disabilities.
S4P-N will also work collaboratively with other relevant federal government agencies, the private sector, state focal agencies and public/private training providers to provide nationally recognised qualifications at level 2 to 5 of the Nigeria Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).