Institute to train 10,000 youths annually in ICT skills The Administrator, Digital Bridge Institute, Dr Ike Adinde, on Thursday in Abuja, said that the institute will train 10,000 youths annually on skills development in ICT under its National Operational Skills System. He told newsmen that the scheme was designed to educate youths in vocational skills. Adinde, […]
Institute to train 10,000 youths annually in ICT skills
The Administrator, Digital Bridge Institute, Dr Ike Adinde, on Thursday in Abuja, said that the institute will train 10,000 youths annually on skills development in ICT under its National Operational Skills System.
He told newsmen that the scheme was designed to educate youths in vocational skills.
Adinde, who decried the rate of unemployment in the country, attributed it to the lack of requisite digital skills needed to drive modern economy.
According to him, developing skills is not just bringing people to sit in a face-to-face classroom environment, but to also recognise that there are other avenues by which skills can be built.
“That is why the institute is taking the initiative to drive the national operational skills system which will target vocational skills development in ICT,’’ Adinde said.
He said that people were unemployed not because they lacked education, “but because they don’t have the requisite skills that the industry needs.
“So, we can distinguish between unemployment as a result of jobs not being available and unemployment as a result of not having employable skills that industry demands.
“We need to begin to develop skills that the modern economy needs and those skills are mostly digital.
“Many of our young people do not have the requisite digital skills to play the modern economy.
“Get into the computer villages in the country, you will find that people are doing stuffs not necessarily that they have degrees but because they have acquired skills.”
He added that many youths fix laptops, computers and phones even when they do not have formal degrees in ICT “and that is the kind of thing we think we should begin to encourage because there are job opportunities in that sector.
“Most of those youths can be on their own if they are prepared, and that is why we are hoping that we will develop those skills.
“People will acquire the skills and they don’t have to depend on government, they can set up their own businesses and do things on their own,’’ Adinde said.
He added that the institution was partnering with the National Board for Technical Education to effectively drive the scheme.
Source: NAN
Photo Credit: Google
