ABUJA – The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity on Thursday announced plans to formulate a national policy to bridge the gap in skills development efforts of the Federal Government.
The Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, made this known in Abuja when he received some members of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) led by its President Kashim Ali.
“There is a lacuna in our skills development efforts in this country. There is no National Policy on skills development and no country can have meaningful development without policy on skills development.
“We need a road map on where we want to be’’, the minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Clement Illoh, said.
The minister called on relevant stakeholders in the labour sector to support efforts of the ministry in formulating the policy. It is not something the ministry of labour will do alone.[eap_ad_2]
“We need contributions of all the stakeholders and I am appealing strongly to COREN that your technical know-how be brought to bear’’, he stated.
Wogu affirmed the commitment of the federal government to job creation through skills development.
He said that the Technical Vocational Education and Training arm of the SURE-P had completed the rehabilitation and commissioning of eight Skills Acquisition Centres across the federation.
He said that the SURE-P had also sponsored more than 5,000 youths in various skills acquisition programmes.
Earlier, Ali blamed the dearth of certified craftsmen in Nigeria on poor quality of the procedure in the award of Trade Test Certificate.
“We strongly feel that the certification of any person for a trade, especially those without the traditional technical school background, should be conducted by a pool of COREN registered craftsmen.
“In this way, COREN will exercise no fear in the registration and recommendation of such certified tradesmen for engineering jobs’’, he said. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]