National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has on Monday flagged off the Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme(B-NOAS) for twenty beneficiaries in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Addressing the beneficiaries,the Director-General(DG) of NDE,Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo said the scheme under the Vocational Skills Development (VSD),is meant to train the unskilled to acquire skills. He emphasized that the programme was train the trainers scheme,where those trained by the Directorate are expected to train others.
Represented by the Acting Rivers State Coordinator and Head of Department (HOD) Special Public Works(SPW),Mr Lucky Oguche, the DG said the programme was going on simultaneously in the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The DG encouraged the beneficiaries to count themselves lucky to have been selected for the programme, urging them to take the training seriously.
He said officials of the Directorate will be monitoring the trainees in the course of their training, pointing out that stipends will be given to the beneficiaries during the training.
In her keynote address,the Acting Director, Vocational Skills Development (VSD),Hajiya Amina Abba who was represented by Ibrahim Musa congratulated the beneficiaries for being chosen in the scheme. She reiterated the need for the trainees to take seriously the training.
She informed the participants that some important documents like log book and identity cards will be issued to them while the training lasts, urging them to make effective use of the documents.
On the bank documentation,the VSD Ag Director asked the beneficiaries to correctly provide the required information to avoid delay in their payment.
Mrs Abba added that the Monitoring and Evaluation officials of NDE will be visiting the training sessions to ensure that trainees are punctual.
In her felicitation speech, the Head of Department (HOD) Vocational Skills Development(VSD) Rivers State,Mrs Chinyere Jackson implored the trainees to be committed to their trainings and respect the trainers.
She expressed confidence that the aim of the B-NOAS programme will be achieved at the long run.
