The Katsina State government, through the State’s Bureau of Statistics, has engaged final-year students of tertiary institutions in the state in data analysis and career guidance skills training.

The state’s Statistician General, Saifullahi Sani-Matazu, disclosed this during the opening of a two-day training for the first batch of 250 students of tertiary institutions in the state.

The training, tagged “Data Analysis and Empowerment Bootcamp 2025,” was organised in collaboration with Gwagware Foundation.

According to Mr Sani-Matazu, the training is designed to build the capacity of final-year students in data analysis using hybrid methods.

He said, “So, we have seen so many things that one cannot get at the university, especially from research methods courses that students are passing through, which are mostly theoretical but are lacking in most of the institutions.

“So, we organised this in order to bridge the practical gap, to equip our students and strengthen their capacity on how to handle sophisticated software that is very expensive to obtain.”

Mr Sani-Matazu said that, with the support of the state government, they have procured enterprise versions of the software for installation on an unlimited number of devices.

“We are leveraging that to ensure that we install these software free of charge for our students, as well as train them on how to make use of them for their projects and assignments.

“And at the same time, they can use it for other students and other partners, engaging in data collection, data analysis, and report writing, so that they can earn money from the skills they acquired,” he said.

The statistician general said the bureau normally employs graduates who are in the labour market in conducting surveys, “but we have decided to extend this kind of ad hoc assignment to students.”

The state’s Commissioner for Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, Muhammad Isah-Musa, said the training was important because “it catches the students young.”

He therefore urged the students to key in and give the training all the necessary support to succeed, especially in making an impact on society.

Earlier, the chairman, Gwagware Foundation, Yusuf Ali-Musa, said the training was the first of its kind in the state; hence, the need for the students to make use of the knowledge for the development of Katsina State and the nation in general.

(NAN)