The flag off of the Industrial Training Fund’s sixth phase of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NSDP) nationwide has been fixed for the first week of August, 2017, the Director General of the fund, Mr. Joseph Ari, has said.
Speaking at the opening of the 2017 ITF-Stakeholders Forum held at Al-Qalam University, Katsina, yesterday, the ITF Chief Executive, represented by Director Corporate Planning of the fund, Mr. Peter Agbo, said 500 youths per state in 18 states of the federation would be trained in various skills under the programme.
It would provide five quick win strategies fashioned out by the agency under its reviewed vision in the areas of Technical Skills Development Programme (TSDP) in collaboration with NECA; Skills training on wheels using mobile units; Training people to turn passion to profession; Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP); and Developing Agricultural Entrepreneurs (Agripreneur),” he explained.
“I want to assure our contributing employers and various stakeholders that ITF is committed to quality service delivery; despite the global economic recession which is affecting our national economy,” said Ani.
On the theme of the forum: “The ITF review vision for strategic development: A solution to youth empowerment and job creation in Nigeria,” he said the event will enable the fund to make amend and re-strategize for better operations.
Earlier, the ITF’s Area Manager in Katsina, Alhaji Saleh Garba, revealed that from 2014 to date, the area office had trained over 12,767 students of tertiary institutions in Katsina State through Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), while about 2500 unemployed youths in the state were trained from 2013 to 2016 under the National Industrial Skills Development Programme.
“From 2015 to date, we have appraised, harmonized and installed 14 in-company apprenticeships in seven organisations in the state. The exercise covered a total of 207 trainees,” said Garba.
