SMEDAN, Anambra Gov’t Partner On Entrepreneurship Capacity Building For Teachers
70 teachers from primary and secondary schools in Anambra are participating in a capacity building training organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in collaboration with the state government.
The was themed “Mind Shift Entrepreneurship Programme-SMEDAN-SCHOOL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME (S-SEP)-2020”
Dr Dikko Radda, the Director General and Chief Executive of SMEDAN who spoke at the opening ceremony in Awka said there was growing anxiety among Nigerian students over increasing decline in available job opportunity in the country.
The DG who was represented by Dr Friday Okpara, Director in charge of Partnership and Coordination said given the World Bank’s prediction of 40 million new economically active people in sub-Saharan Africa, there would be no way regular employment could take care of the surge.
He said it was in view of this challenge that SMEDAN designed the Mind Shift Entrepreneurship Programme to engage the energies of youths and students and channel them to creative business ventures.
He said in addition to S-SEP, there was Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship and Development Programme (TINDEP) which Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education had cued-in with endorsements from NUC, NBTE and NCCE.
Radda said the starting point to achieving skill orientated education was to build the capacity of teachers on entrepreneurship to channel their teachings towards turning ideas into actions.
According to him, the programme will train the teachers, expose them to selected business skills and provide post training and hands-on support for participants and student trainees.
“SMEDAN-SEP is to prepare pupils/students for the 4th industrial revolution, there is a paradigm shift in today’s learning and teaching, it is no more time for going to school to bet good grades but rather go to school and acquire skills.
“The era of brilliant curriculum vitae is over, this is the era of crafting a bankable business plan that will launch the students into being their own bosses.
“The state government is expected to take ownership of this programme and step it down to all primary and secondary schools in the state, SMEDAN is ready to partner with you and work closely with the ministry of education to ensure the success of the programme in Anambra, “ he said.
In her speech, Prof. Kate Omenugha, Commissioner for Basic Education in Anambra said the programme was in line with the state government’s policy thrust on vocational education.
Omenugha said Anambra had 12 vocations with over 30 trade subjects and that the stated government had incentive for exceptional students to enable them start up easily and serve as motivation for others.
She thanked SMEDAN for the partnership and that it would strengthen the existing ones for better overall result while urging the teachers to take advantage of the training for their own benefits and those of their students
“We have done well in this area, we have also done trace studies to track our students who passed through our technical and vocational education Programme and the result is that it is a success story because most of them have established something.
“We have a good number of MoU with firms including Innoson motors on vehicle body building maintenance, we have with some hoteliers on hospitality, welders companies, woodwork companies, building construction and others skill areas,” she said.
