FG equips 38 technical colleges for free skills training with stipends

Thirty-eight technical colleges across Nigeria have now been funded and equipped by the Federal Government to run free vocational training for young people, with trainees also receiving monthly stipends and starter packs to help them start businesses.

The National Project Coordinator of the Innovation Development for Effective Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project, Mrs Blessing Ehi Ogwu, gave the figures on Wednesday during an inspection of the project centre at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Orozo, in Abuja. She said 20 of the colleges are federal and 18 are state-owned, and that the World Bank is supporting the effort.

For an ordinary Nigerian, the offer covers more than tuition. According to Mr Olatunji Odewunmi, the National Project Monitoring Officer in the Minister of Education's office, government pays training fees, instructional materials and accommodation for trainees in boarding facilities. Trainees also get a monthly stipend and a starter pack before they finish, so they can leave with tools to set up on their own.

"Every one of them will get a starter pack even before the end of the training," Odewunmi said. "By the day they graduate, they can go home with it."

Attendance is tracked, and slackers lose out

The free place comes with conditions. Odewunmi said biometric attendance monitoring has been introduced, and anyone who fails to meet the required attendance level risks losing both the stipend and the starter pack. Monitoring officers also visit the centres regularly to check how government resources are being used.

Odewunmi put Nigeria's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centres at more than 1,000, including about 140 skills centres in the Federal Capital Territory. He said the IDEAS Project and the wider TVET push work together to widen access to practical training.

At FSTC Orozo, Principal Dr Stella Uhuegbu said the college follows the revised curriculum's 70 per cent practical, 30 per cent theory split. The college has over 1,000 regular students, while its six-month short course takes in more than 1,000 trainees. Trades on offer include ICT, automobile mechanics, auto-electrical repairs, catering, garment making and GSM repairs. Uhuegbu said newly built and equipped workshops made the hands-on training possible.

Some trainees said the skills are already bringing in money. Modupe Osundeyi, who is learning catering, said she approached a school near her home and secured a contract to supply buns and doughnuts. Joy Genesis, at the Zenou TVET Centre in Orozo, said she has handled wedding and birthday cake orders within months of enrolling.

A female automobile trainee, who was not named, asked the government for more equipment and for the programme to reach rural communities. She also urged girls not to shy away from trades dominated by men.

What happens next: The officials did not say when new intakes open or how much each stipend is. Young people interested in the free training should watch for announcements from the Federal Ministry of Education and the colleges near them.