ITF pays N7Bn to employers, clears backlog of SIWES allowances

In line with its enabling Act, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has disbursed over N7bn to 510 employers of labour as reimbursement claims in 2018.Director-General of the Agency, Joseph Ari, who disclosed this during the Fund’s 2018 Annual Performance Review Meeting/Merit Award Ceremony in Jos, said the payments were in fulfillment of its establishment’s Act, which requires that contributing employers are refunded up to 50 per cent of their contributions provided they meet all criteria for such payments.

In a statement yesterday by Head, Public Affairs of the Fund, Suleyol Fred Chagu, the ITF boss described the disbursements as the biggest pay-out to contributing employers in a calendar year by the ITF since its establishment.

According to the statement, only contributors that trained their workforce across all cadres and accepted students on Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) amongst other conditions were reimbursed.He also stated that in the year under review, the fund cleared the backlog of unpaid SIWES allowances dating as far back as 2012 as it paid out N 1,344,527,500.00 to students and supervisors of accredited courses that participated in the scheme.

Ari, who recalled that the Fund had tagged 2018 “the Year of Service Delivery”, noted that despite the numerous challenges it encountered in the course of the year, it realised most of its goals and targets. He attributed the fund’s achievements last year to a combination of visionary and resolute leadership and equally committed and dedicated workforce. The DG averred that the focus on skills acquisition did not, however, deter it from the performance of other functions and obligations as it trained thousands of employees of organisations through its direct training services.

The ITF boss said the Fund embarked on a number of staff welfare and development initiatives to improve the knowledge and productivity of the staff for optimal performance, N229, 200,000 was disbursed to 266 staff as housing and car loans just as 1,985 of the workforce benefitted from various capacity development programmes both locally and overseas.