UK’s skills: The United Kingdom’s ‘Skills for Prosperity(S4P)’ has signed an agreement with the Kaduna state government to accelerate skills development in the state, according to S4P adviser at the British high commission, Nigeria, Dr Terseer Nyulakum.
Nyulakum made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, in Kaduna.
He said that S4P is a global programme by the UK government that targets nine emerging economies, including Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria.
According to him, the programme was conceptualised in tune with the peculiarity of the respective country.
“And in Nigeria what we have designed is a programme that would constitutionalise a former industrial base apprenticeship and training system, that would provide alternatives for young people beyond the classroom”, he said.
When a young person gets into the apprenticeship programme, it’s linked to the production flows of a company and the person serves in that capacity, gets experience needed and at the end of the day he gets a job by the same company or becomes self-employed, Nyalakum said.
He said the programme was an opportunity for the private sector to train young people in what they want to see themselves become.
” So, it is 80 per cent of their time spent in production, while 20 per cent will be spent with the training provider building the cognitive part of their training.
“The UK High Commission shares the same objectives with Nigeria, by making sure we have a productive workforce, led by young people.
“So that they are able to participate gainfully to improve national productivity and the economy, while they see how they can participate in the global economy, “he said.
He noted that to deliver such programmes, it was essential to have government taking it over and buying into it, especially for sustainability, adding that it was a UK Aid founded programme with a life span.
” So, going forward, we will be able to have a group of concepts that work and the Kaduna state government can have that group of concepts and work with it.”
While stating that the programme agreement had been signed with the Kaduna state government to deliver the programme collaboratively, it was hoped that the partnership would yield positive results.
NAN recalls that Idris Nyam, Commissioner for Business, Innovation and Technology, signed the agreement on Friday, on behalf of the state government, with the UK’s FCDO on Skills4Prosperity, to accelerate skills development in the state.
With the signing, Kaduna state had launched the “Skills for Prosperity (S4P) programme alongside Lagos, as the only states benefiting from the programme in Nigeria, Nyulakum said.
He added that the Kaduna state government had identified high-quality technology, vocational training promotion, as requisites for the fulfilment of human capital development indices, to improve the business environment and develop the state’s tactical vocational capacity requirements.
“We prioritised entrepreneurial skills for active participation and contribution by youth in the state, ” he said.
The S4P-N is a two-year UK Aid funded programme that aims to equip the youth and vulnerable groups with skills that offers them a more attractive pathway, into employment that meets employers’ needs for a more skilled workforce.
Specifically, in Nigeria, S4P-N supports an improved, National Apprenticeship and Training System (NATS) that would help the private sector meet its workforce demands, help youth into decent jobs and ensure that these benefits are shared equitably.
It also enables new and inclusive pathways to career-oriented learning through an industry-led NATS.
UK’s skills/ (NAN)
