NECA provides a platform for private sector employers to interact with the government, labour, communities and other relevant institutions in and outside Nigeria for the purpose of promoting harmonious business environment that will engender productivity and prosperity for the benefit of all.
The Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Adewale Oyerinde, on Monday, said the draining number of industries in the country are unable to employ the high turnout of graduates churned out annually.
The director also said the rocky educational system caused by threats of strikes and other challenges causes setbacks on the ability to produce graduates who are employable and competitive within the context of the global market.
The NECA DG gave the remark at the 2023 International Schools and Conference of the African Centre for Career Enhancement and skills support held at the National Universities Commission headquarters in Abuja.
The event which is a partnership between six African universities and Leipzig University in Germany was organised to enhance the level of employability of university graduates and to investigate the stagnant labour market in Africa despite the increasing level of education of its countries’ citizens.
Speaking on his keynote address titled, “Cultivating New frontiers in employability research for Skills and Career enhancement”, the NECA DG noted that stakeholders should take a different approach to the issue of skill development and employment so that graduates have some level of skills and competency that can make them contribute to national development.
The director stated that, issues of skills development and employability are front-burner issues as they speak to some of the pillars that ensure business sustainability, productivity, and competitiveness.
The director said, “As you know, there are 265 universities in the country but unfortunately, as the number of universities continues to increase, the greater the number at which industries are draining is either because of the regulatory environment, mismanagement or other issues challenging organised business in the ecosystem generally.
So as such, I would say, “It is also important that all stakeholders take a different approach to the issue of skill development and employability so that before the graduates leave the ivory towers, they have some level of requisite skills and competency that can make them sustainable and also contribute to national development.”
As a solution, the director proposed the dual-purpose educational model, which involves graduates working and schooling at the same time in order to prepare them for participation in the labour market or become employers.
Source: Punch
