The Federal Government has commenced the training of youths and unemployed in the South-East zone in various skills as an alternative to white collar jobs.
The Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said this at the opening of the training in Owerri, Imo State capital.
Ngige said this in a statement by Mr Charles Akpan, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry on Friday in Abuja.
The minister noted that skills education would equip participants to be self-employed and self-reliant.
“This is one of the ways that government wants to remove youths from poverty, and social discontent, and give them a new lease of life,”he said.
Ngige noted that with the skills acquired, the beneficiaries would generate employment for others, as well as spread the knowledge through training others.
He added that after the zonal skill development training, it would be carried out in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Ngige said that at the end of the training, government would empower the participants with the necessary kits for the various skills they trained in.
The minister further said the trainees would be graded by points in the four stages of the training.
“This is the beginning. We will organise many more, and as we organise them, we will be giving you points and grading you through stages 1 to 4, where you get your certificate,”he said.
He noted that government would in time enlarge the current curricular of the programme to other areas such as processing of agricultural produce to engender food security.
He added that the Skill Acquisition training programme, which is a specialised training, had been going on concurrently with the regular training by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
Ngige noted that degree holders could also acquire the Skills Certificate, as it would place them on a higher pedestal, adding that one could combine a white collar job with a blue collar one.
“This is a golden opportunity for you to add to the paper certificate you already have,”Ngige said.(NAN)
