Most Graduates are Unemployed because they lack necessary Skills — FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria through its permanent secretary of the ministry of education has revealed that most graduates in Nigeria are unemployed because they lack the necessary skills required by employees.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education Sonny Echono said this in a two-day National Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Echono, the conference “has created a shortfall of the adequately skilled educated workforce which is one of the major constraints to the growth and development of our nation”.

“The conference was organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and the SKYE Program for Youth Employment Skills Development, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development, and implemented by the German Development Cooperation Organization (GIZ).

“Most of the graduates produced in various universities of technology, polytechnics, colleges of education (Technical) and technical colleges nationwide do not have specific skills required for the job market (market-relevant skills)… “

“The situation results in having millions of unemployed Nigerian graduates,” he said.

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In an event aimed at repositioning technical and vocational education and training through Nigeria’s policy and legislative options, Econo explained that given this situation, the current government’s focus is on technology, vocational education, and training (TVET) and skills Acquired, adding that it “born out of the recognition that TVET is the bedrock of socio-economic growth and development of any nation.

Echono said: “Government at all level has been making frantic efforts to equip the youths by establishing technical colleges, polytechnics, mono-technics, Vocational Enterprise Institutions (VEIs) and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) and Model Skills Training Centers (MSTC) for equipping youths/learners with technical and vocational skills through formal and non-formal channels across the states of the federation.”