The World Bank says it has earmarked 60million dollars to benefit 75,000 Nigerian youths in the Nigerian Youth Employment Through Skills Acquisition Fund (NYESAF), under the Innovation, Development, and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project of the Ministry of Education.
World Bank Education Specialist, Mistura Rufai, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at the Contract/Memorandum of Understanding Signing and implementation workshop of the Nigerian Youth Employment Through Skills Acquisition Fund (NYESAF).
Rufai said the project was geared towards enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to provide skills for both the informal and informal sector.
” The IDEAS Project is currently a project of about $130 million, but for this component of (NYESAF) project, we’re looking at about $60 million for the results.
“And the NYESAF component is focusing on education, employment, or training. It looks at using result-based contracting to provide short-duration training for youths.
“So for this cohort that we have, we’re looking at training about 75,000 trainees going forward.
“So the cost of training will vary based on the trades and based on the market prices that the Training Service Providers (TSPs), ” she said.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the project which has four components was poised to transform the landscape of youths employment and skills development.
Alausa, represented by the IDEAS Project National Coordinator, Mrs Blessing Ogwu, explained that empowering youths with skills was not just an investment but a critical building block for the long-term development of the country.
According to him, the first component focus on technical education, component two on the informal sector, component three is on technical teachers education while component four is Innovation Grant Fund (IGF).
“We are not merely signing contracts, we are laying the foundation for a stronger, more resilient workforce through collaboration with our partner, stakeholders and committed institutions.
“This will create a lasting impacts on the lives of thousands of Nigerian youths,” he said.
One of the training providers, Dr Abdul Ahmed from Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe, said the project would equip youths with the desired skills to live a meaningful life.
Ahmed, who, said that the college would be proving training in the auto mechanical sector, pledged to deliver in its mandate to give Nigerian youths the requisite knowledge in the sector.
The Project Contractor, Ndem Ndiyo explained that the curriculum for training would align with the National Occupational Standards (NOS).
Ndiyo added that approved National Skills Qualification (NSQ) curriculum the Natioanl Board for Technical Education (NBTE) would be used to enable the trainees to work anywhere in the world.
The Project is a five-years programme focusing on the core objectives of reducing unemployment among Nigerian youths aged between 15 to 35 years.
