The Industrial Training Fund has urged the Federal Government to review the country’s Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme to make it more functional.
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, ITF, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, made the call at the Biennial SIWES National Conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
He noted that, given the growing number of institutions taking part in the scheme, it had become imperative for the Federal Government to streamline the operations of the ITF to include only engineering and technologically-oriented courses.
He said, “The objective of the scheme is to expose students to industrial work situations they are likely to meet after graduation. The challenges facing the growth of our economy are not limited to the poor quality of graduates from tertiary institutions.
While we may not be in a position to advocate a review of the accreditation of more institutions, it is pertinent that the government should come up with clear policies on the operation of the scheme.
“Critical among this is our repeated recommendations that participation in the SIWES should be limited to engineering, technological and allied courses. On the alternative, however, the government should create a separate portfolio to manage the scheme as has been done for the National Youth Service Corps.”
Wapmuk noted that the ITF was willing to partner the Organised Private Sector on boosting skills acquisition in Nigeria.
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ITF wants FG to review industrial training scheme