SPECIAL FEATURE: World Youth Skills Day And The Transformation Agenda Of Governor Okowa
By Elohor Foghola
Young people are drivers of change and must be fully engaged in decisions affecting their future. Guided by the United Nations Youth 2030 strategy, I urge everyone to act for youth skills development as a priority, at the Summit and beyond- UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
Since then, World Youth Skills Day has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy-makers and development partners.
When Governor Ifeanyi Okowa came into power in May 29, 2015, one of his goals which embedded in SMART Delta Agenda is Strategic Wealth Creation, which includes among others aggressive promotion of micro small and medium scale enterprise particularly among youths
He came with a clear vision to create wealth, reduce unemployment through technical, vocational and formal education.
This his administration has done through various Youth Skill acquisition programs focusing on Young men and women, young persons with disabilities, youth from rural communities across the 25 local governments in the Delta State.
Some of the programs include Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programs (STEP), Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurship Program (YAGEP), Rural Youth Skills Acquisition Program (RYSA)/ Community Business School (CBS), a six weeks intensive training on relevant business and life skills.
Women Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Program (WESAD) Girls Entrepreneurship and Skills Training Programs (GEST) Information Communication Technology Youth Empowerment Program (ICTYEP), Tertiary Institution Empowerment Program (TEP) and Emerging Market Model Initiative (EMMI) with training on cyber security, software development, and product design.
In the last six years, thousands of young people have been trained on Aluminum profiling, Catering and Confectionery, Information Communication Technology, Electrical Installation and Repairs, Fashion Design
Also Plumbing, Pop, Screeding and Painting, Welding and Fabrication, Woodwork and furniture, Hairdressing wig making and make up and Audio – Visual services.
After over 12 weeks of intensive training and 6 weeks of Community Business School each participants are equipped with a starter park to kick start their various businesses
These programs are to equip youths in the state with the necessary life and business skills to become self-employed and self-sufficient as well as contribute meaningfully to the growth of local economy
According to Recovering Learning, a new report from the Education Commission and UNICEF, only around 1 in 4 of the world’s young people are on track to learn the skills they need to get a job – either through education, employment or training.
In the aspect of education, which is in line with the SMART Agenda of the current administration, the Okowa administration has advanced technical education which is poised to bridge the gap between Skills Acquisition and Education of the present day Delta Youth.
With Governor Okowa’s commitment to technical and vocational education, 19 Technical Colleges were approved to be established across the state in addition to the six existing ones.
The Governor upgraded, reconstructed and equipped the six existing ones, established and constructed 9 new technical colleges in Asaba, Omadinor, Orerokpe, Uvwie, Obiaroko. Also the accreditation of all trade subjects by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and plans are underway for the establishment of additional technical colleges in the remaining 10 Local Government Areas of the state.”
The technical colleges in Delta State are well equipped to function as institutes for the training of students in different fields of Technical Education. Courses offered cover Key Areas of Arts, Information Communication Technology, Electrical, Mechanical Works, and Catering.
Some of the technical colleges spread across Delta State are Agbor Technical College, Isele-Ukwu Technical College, Ofagbe Technical College, Ogor Technical College, Sapele Technical College and Utagbe-Ogbe Technical College where the students participate in live practical which helps them to achieve more knowledge of topics taught in the class
Therefore, the world celebrates World Youth Skills Day 2022 with the theme “Transforming youth skills for the future” under its Thematic Action Track “Learning and skills for life, work, and sustainable development”. The Okowa administration has taken major steps towards transforming and building a new generation of entrepreneurs in Delta State and Nigeria in general.
