The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and other local partners have commenced the conduct of a national employability benchmarking programme in Nigerian universities.

TETFund executive secretary Sonny Echono stated this on Monday at the National Employability Benchmarking Programme in Abuja. He said the move was part of efforts to improve employability in the country.

Mr Echono said the move would also help steer higher education institutions towards better alignment with market needs.

According to him, they will also measure how tertiary institutions are establishing a baseline for employability and potentially supporting the development of a strategic approach to sector intervention.

“IFC Vitae is a global first-of-a-kind, survey-based diagnostic instrument which assesses, processes, structures and supports employability outcomes for higher education institutions. The programme provides system and institutional-level insights that helps identify key intervention areas that will enhance the employability ecosystem and improve graduate employability outcomes,” Mr Echono explained.

He added that one of TETFund’s key roles is developing an enabling system for young graduates to be part of the active labour market soon after graduation.

“This diagnostic led by the IFC is the first phase of designing an intervention to improve graduate employability outcomes. The programme will help improve where higher education institutions in the country are presently in relation to global best practices,” Mr Echono added.

He stressed that the first stage of the programme was to develop a snapshot of current employability practices.

According to him, IFC Vitae has been deployed in different countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbeans, to hundreds of higher education institutions.

The National Employability Benchmarking Programme is coordinated by TETFund with the support of the Federal Ministry of Education, and the National Universities Commission.

IFC is utilising its Vitae employability tool to provide a diagnostic macro snapshot of how well tertiary institutions in Nigeria are implementing employability best practices.

(NAN)