By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie
Students attending Lagos State-owned tertiary institutions and their teachers have praised the Jobs Initiative Lagos (JIL), a schemed aimed at improving the entrepreneurship and employability skills of students in the last two years of their studies.
About 8,000 students in the stipulated classes have benefited from free programme aimed at fine-tuning their soft skills, new market skills, soft skills, business skill as well as re-orienting their minds.
During the programme which has both online and physical training components, the students are exposed to resume Writing ,Work Etiquettes, Presentation and Pitching , Corporate E- Mail Drafting , Negotiations Skills, Interviewing Techniques, Microsoft Suites, Microsoft Power Point Presentations, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook and Entrepreneurship Skills development.
Students of the Lagos State College of Nursing (LASCON), Igando, who participated in the initiative (an improved version of the ReadySetWork) for the first time desicribed JIL as a catalyst to reduce brain drain affecting the country’s health sector.
Speaking at the end of the JIL training held within the College premises in Igando, which was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser on Education (OSAE), President, Lagos State College of Nursing Student Association, Timothy Bada, praised the government’s idea to extend the employability programme to medical students, saying the move has helped him to see beyond what he was taught in class.
He said: “This programme has actually enlightened me on what to do after leaving school. This is an addition to our profession because most of our senior colleagues often focus on caring for patients alone. I am not saying that is wrong because it is our primary responsibility, but when we put in some other extra activities that the community can recognise, it will bring more money that can help to cater for our needs.”
Another student, Alimah Biliamin, said she had learnt a key factor that could assist her to become employable after leaving school and possible areas that she could venture into within the health sector rather than going abroad.
“I have done some of the courses outside and I know how much I had to pay to get it. But with the government giving it out for free, one must commend them. I must appreciate the government for giving me this opportunity. And I appeal that all students should be made to undergo the training”, she said.
Student Adviser for the institution, Matthew Friday, commended the state government for the initiative, just as he stressed that it had exposed students’ to other soft skills required to become employable immediately after leaving school,
Assistant Project Coordinator, LoftInc Allied Partners Limited, the organisation collaborating with the state government on the training, Olatokunbo Aiyenimelo, told the students that the aim of JIL was to prepare them for life after school so they could get engaged quickly.
“To ensure that they become employers and good employees that can work effectively in the 21st century, we also trained them on how they could coordinate their data using different digital tools that could ease their stress at work,” she said.
Training for the JIL 2021 began last week for students of all the tertiary institutions.
