Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has included students of Caleb University, Imota; Yaba College of Technology, Yaba; and the Federal College of Education Technical, Akoka among the beneficiaries in the 2018 edition of Ready.Set.Work (RSW).
The governor disclosed this through his Special Adviser on Education, Obafela Bank-Olemoh in a statement on Monday. He said this was part of plans for this year.
EduCeleb.com recalls that the RSW had been in operation since 2016. At the maiden edition, participation was limited to state-owned tertiary institutions. The 2017 edition saw to the inclusion of a federal institution, the University of Lagos. This need development includes a private university, a federal polytechnic and a federal college of education.
Mr Bank-Olemoh said the inclusion of the new schools was in line with Governor Ambode’s commitment to ensuring that every student that graduates from any tertiary institution in Lagos State is prepared for the world of work as an employer of labour or a value-adding employee.
RSW is a 13-week intensive Entrepreneurship and Employability training programme set aside by the state government. Upon completion, participants are put on paid internship in partner companies while those whose business ideas are deemed best are given seed funds.
Starting with 500 final year students from three Lagos State tertiary institutions in 2016, it was scaled up in 2017 to 12,000 Students from six institutions including Lagos State University, University of Lagos, Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos State College of Health Technology, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education participated in the last edition.
“In 2016, we placed 76 students in internships with partner organizations like PwC, SystemSpecs, Total, GTBank, FCMB and Access Bank, to mention a few, who provided 6-month paid internship opportunities for RSW graduates. His Excellency, the Governor, further expanded the scheme by approving funds to place an additional 100 RSW graduates in internship positions with SMEs across Lagos State, with monthly stipends provided by the government.
“In 2017, we were able to scale up and secure internship slots in about 180 organisations across the State for 1,000 top performing RSW graduates. The placement process involved a series of Internship Fairs at which companies had the opportunity to interview and select their interns from a pool of qualified candidates,” Bank-Olemoh said.
The Governor also approved the payment of N30,000 as monthly stipends to 2017 Ready.Set.Work (RSW) interns who have been placed in various organisations for six-month paid internships. These interns were part of the 2,000 final year students from six tertiary institutions in the State who took part in the 2017 edition.
Bank-Olemoh added that the programme would be expanded to train 25,000. While 5,000 final year students would participate in the 13-week face-to-face classes, 20,000 students in their penultimate year would take part in the RSW Online Academy.
Bank-Olemoh also called on professionals from different sectors to join the RSW Faculty, the largest volunteer faculty in Nigeria, as facilitators for the 2018 training programme, adding that the RSW Faculty recruitment would kick off officially on February 22nd, while the application portal will be accessible on the programme’s website at www.readysetwork.com.ng.
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