As the ongoing UNLOCK Training Programme enters its final and crucial phase, participants on Monday, got surprise boosters from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (SSAP-TVEE), Abiola Arogundade, as she announced a decision to increase the number of grant winners and a promise of assistance in business registration. Earlier, participants were also thrilled by the news that trainees of Vocational and Skills Acquisition Centres are included in the Students Loan Bill recently signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to enable them to obtain loans for the duration of their programmes.
Arogundade said her Office (OSSAP-TVEE) would assist participants, especially start-ups, in processing the registration of their new companies after the training. She added, however, that the assistance would be for only those who do not win the grant while grant winners would be expected to process theirs with part of their grants.
Welcoming the participants to the second week of the programme at the end of the day’s training session, the SSAP-TVEE, who expressed delight at their continued enthusiasm, announced, “I want to encourage you to continue to come for every single class, to start with your Business Plans. We have decided to include more people than we decided in the beginning for the grant; and so, I want to encourage you to give us a reason for giving you the grant.”
Highlights of Monday’s training session included the assumption of the training function by a new facilitator, Mr. John Eyok, who took over from Bukola Mayie and the visit of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMES, Hon. Tola Johnson, who exhorted the participants on the importance of the training they are currently undertaking. Recently, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans and Tertiary Education, Adegboyega Nasir Isiaka, who gave the news of the Students Loans Bill during a brief visit at the programme, explained that Section 2 of the Act clearly states that vocational trainees would henceforth be beneficiaries of the Students Loans.
According to the Committee Chairman, the Act provides that fees and maintenance costs of students of tertiary and skill acquisition centres would be entitled to some amounts of money for school fees and maintenance throughout their programmes. “What that means is that if you are in any particular skills acquisition training institution that meets the requirements of the Board and Management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), you can benefit from the facility”, the Chairman said.
Explaining that the details of the Bill are being worked out in terms of how much each category of beneficiaries would be entitled to, the Chairman told the participants, “In broad terms, it means that you have to do more of these activities; because anyone that wants to acquire one skill or the other will now no longer be deterred by funding required to do that”. No less than 105 participants physically attended the training on Friday and Monday, Days 4 and 5 of the programme, while the number of online participants continued to soar with over 5,000 actively participating from more than 18 states of the Federation. The training enters its final stages this week as Mr. John Eyok takes over from Bukola Mayie.
