The federal government is introducing a ‘school-to-work’ scheme to equip youths to become productive and self-employed.

The executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with commissioners for education, executive chairs of state and FCT Universal Basic, Education Boards and UBEC.

Mr Bobboyi disclosed that the target group for the scheme were learners in junior secondary schools.

According to him, the scheme will allow them to detect where their talents and potential lie between academic pursuit and vocational skills development.

“It is expected that ultimately, generations of school leavers who are productive, self-employed, and contributing to the economic well-being of the country will emerge.

“The target group for the scheme are learners in the junior secondary schools.

“It will save the country the wastage being experienced after the junior secondary school education whereby those who are not academically inclined have no skills to develop for sustenance,” he said.

Mr Bobboyi said the scheme was structured to provide at least six months of training, broken into two months per year of study in the junior secondary school.

“During this period, the basics of a variety of trades will be taught, which the learners can build on after completing junior secondary education.

“It is also designed to enable students who may not be transiting to senior secondary schools immediately to continue to specialise in their chosen trades until they are able to establish themselves,” he said.

Mr Bobboyi further stated that the scheme would be piloted in some centres in the states and FCT before scaling it up across the country.

He added that the vocational centres were to be established and equipped to support training in various trades in existing junior secondary schools.

He called for the support of the commissioners and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the implementation of the scheme.

The director of basic education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Folake Davies, said the scheme is designed to provide youths with the requisite experience necessary to excel whenever they find themselves in the working environment.

“It further supports the students’ classroom knowledge by allowing them to gain insights into various vocations, technical, industrial, and business environments,” he said. 

(NAN)