ITF ABOLISHES STARTER-PACKS FOR GRADUATES OF ARTISAN PROGRAMMES
…..AS GRADUATES OF SUPA PROGRAMME TO EARN LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION
The Industrial Training Fund, has taken skills development in a different direction by abolishing the practice of handing out Starter-packs to graduands of its skills training programs and rather, exposing them to certification by both local and international awarding bodies to certify them as fit for both the local and international markets.
The Director General of ITF, Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun made this known in Abuja while briefing newsmen after the Fund completed its latest round of assessment of privately owned Training Centers collaborating with it for the delivery of SUPA program across Nigeria.
As ITF commences SUPA Phase II deployment and training process, it is seeking to increase the number of privately owned training centers from 880 (Eight Hundred and Eighty) to 1500 (One Thousand Five Hundred).
This is to enable it to achieve the target of graduating 100,000 (One Hundred Thousand) artisans in this phase.
The Director General noted that this figure of 100,000 (One Hundred Thousand) artisans will be drawn from the 29,000 that graduated from SUPA Foundation program (Phase I) last year and from the pool of over 700,000 (Seven Hundred Thousand) registered artisans on its SUPA platform.
As this population is scattered across every local government area in Nigeria, it is necessary to have at least 2 training centers per local government to guarantee ease of access by artisans.
The training center accreditation process is a comprehensive process that involves the examination of corporate structure of Training Centers, evaluation of their physical infrastructure and set-up, appraisal of their training equipment and assessment of competence/qualifications of their instructors. Each Training Center is required to firstly register on the SUPA platform of the ITF.
Upon completion of this accreditation process, the Fund will publish the list of successful training centers based on their categorizations in categories “A”, “B” and “C”. Thereafter, the Fund will begin the process of notifying artisans of their deployment to the various accredited training centers based on proximity to their disclosed residential address.
That exercise will commence and end before April 30, 2025.
The DG further disclosed that the Fund is going to make significant investments in improving the capacities of accredited training centers to meet the target of SUPA which is international certification. Over 3000 (Three Thousand) instructors from the 880 (Eight Hundred and Eighty) accredited training centers have undergone train-the-trainer courses.
The Fund is developing a wholistic system for equipment support for training centers and also seeking ways to ease access to finance.
To achieve the goal of turning out 2 million trained artisans annually, the Fund will need to collaborate with 10,000 (Ten thousand) privately own and well-established training centers.
This is a critical component of the skill-eco-system which the Fund is seeking to build in Nigeria to aid easy cultivation of manpower to meet industrial need and provide continuous development/life-long skill for graduates to match them with available opportunities in the industrial sector.
He restated that the SUPA Phase II training entails training of artisans in soft skills of Project Management, Professional Ethics & Patriotism and Industrial Health & Safety.
For Project Management, ITF is collaborating with the Chartered Institute of Project Management of Nigeria, (CIPMN) to deliver a bespoke certification for artisans in a special category.
Both the examination and certification process of artisans in this phase will be handled by CIPMN. SUPA Phase II is to take 8 weeks and successful artisans will automatically graduate to the final phase of SUPA which is Phase III.
This phase will cover the actual technical trainings which is based on 30% theory and 70% practical as well as training in Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Afiz Ogun noted that though SUPA was given to ITF as a mandate to address rampant quackery, unemployment and youth restiveness, the program completely aligns with ITF’s core mandate and also addresses a long-standing challenge of providing contributing employers to the Fund with skilled manpower to keep their businesses going.
He thanked the President of the Federal Republic for his deep foresight on this critical issue besetting our economy, the Minister of Industry for his leadership, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance for his solid support for the program, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN and Nigerian Employees Consultative Association, and other relevant public and private Organizations that have reckoned with the SUPA program.
He assured that in a short while, Nigerians will begin to feel the impact of all the good work being done behind the scenes by ITF in the form of better skilled workmen in relevant trade areas.
