The Industrial Training Fund in conjunction with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association on the Technical Skills Development Project has held a graduation ceremony for 70 trainees who underwent four months of training in Technical Skills Development Project .
The Technical Skills Development Project started in 2010 and focused on training Nigerian Youths on employable technical and vocational skills to reduce unemployment.
The Training Manager, Industrial Skills Training Centre, Ikeja, Mr James Fanope, while speaking at the event said that he was happy that out of the 80 students admitted four months ago, 70 were graduating and had been trained and groomed in their various chosen technical and vocational skills to fit into the industrial sector of the economy.
Fanapo said, “The students are ready to launch into the world to actualise their dreams through what they have learnt either by becoming self-employed or applying to organisations that are in line with their field.”
The Director of Research and Curriculum Development Department, Mr Zaccaria Piwuna, who represented the Director General of ITF, Joseph Ari, also commended the efforts of the training manager and other technical officials that took the students through the last four months, saying they had contributed towards reducing unemployment in Nigeria.
Mr Thompson Akpabio who represented the Director-General of NECA, urged the graduating students on the need to build more on the skills they acquired at the institute to push them ahead.
He further stated that the partnership of ITF with NECA had brought about a great impact in reducing unemployment because since the inception of the scheme in 2010, it had succeeded in training thousands of young persons with vocational and technical skills.
The event ended on a high note with the presentation of the Certificate of Competence to the students and awards to the best students.
ITF offers programmes in Electrical/Electronics Maintenance, Mechanical Machining and Maintenance, Automobile Mechanic Works, Welding and Fabrication Works, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Instrumentation and Process Control, Information and Communication Technology, and Art of Culinary.
