BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria has trained no fewer than 100 teachers in capacity building to promote entrepreneurship development and vocational training in primary and secondary schools.
The Director General and CEO of SMEDAN, Dikko Umaru Radda, said the initiative was part of the policy to prepare students to be productive contributors to the economy with a view to reducing level of unemployment in the country.
He said the programme would take place in 12 states of the federation with 100 teachers and education officers per state namely; Kano, Zamfara, Plateau, Niger, Taraba, Gombe, Oyo, Osun, Enugu, Abia, Rivers and Bayelsa.
Radda said SMEDAN organised the training in partnership with the state government, stressing that the programme focused on changing the present educational system which only prepared students to be job-seekers.
He asserted that the Federal Government’s economic policy focused attention and supported the development of non-oil revenues, but to benefit from the future direction of the economy, government and the educational authorities should prepare students with hands-on curricular.
Represented by the Zonal Coordinator of the SMEDAN in Southwest, Olukayode Shode, Radda said the programme was aimed at building the capacity of primary and secondary school teachers to arm them with the requisite knowledge to inculcate the culture and spirit of entrepreneurship into the students.
He sad, “The alarming increase in crime, banditry and restiveness in the country can be easily attributable to the increasing rate of unemployment of our youths, due to their lack of preparedness to start and successfully run their own businesses. Youths burst with resourceful energies which if not harnessed early, and channelled positively and productively, can become detrimental to self and the society at large.
“It is worthy of note, that the introduction of Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs) in Universities and NYSC orientation camps have impacted positively on many Nigerian graduates, who no longer wait for white-collar jobs after graduation, but start their own businesses and create jobs for others.
“In our present educational system, certificates and degrees only prepare students to be jobseekers and not job creators, because the National Schools Curricular does not place the needed emphasis on entrepreneurship development and vocational training, which prepare pupils/students to be productive contributors to the economy.”
