National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) has trained 100 senior secondary school students from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in vocational and technological skills under its 2025 Long Vacation Skills Acquisition Programme.
The closing ceremony of the pilot edition of the programme was held yesterday at the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) House in Abuja.
The executive secretary of NSSEC, Dr. Iyela Ajayi, who was represented by the commission’s head of Teacher Development and International Partnerships, Alhaji Mohammed Salihu, said the initiative was designed to empower young Nigerians with practical skills to make them self-reliant and future-ready.
“This programme, which commenced on 25th August, 2025, brought together 100 students from schools in the FCT. Over the past two weeks, they have been exposed to hands-on training in Plaster of Paris (POP) design, tiling, plumbing, painting, solar panel installation, CCTV installation, catering and culinary skills, and robotics.”
The NSSEC boss noted that the programme aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises education, skills development, youth empowerment, and job creation.
“When students are equipped with entrepreneurial skills early in life, they are better positioned to innovate, compete and contribute meaningfully to national development,” Ajayi said.
He stated some of NSSEC’s recent initiatives, including the Grow What You Eat project, aimed at reintroducing school farming to promote food security; teacher capacity building for ICT and inclusive practices; the development of minimum standards for senior secondary education; and the formulation of a national policy for the sub-sector.
“These milestones would not have been possible without the support of the minister of education and the minister of state for education,” he said.
The director-general of ITF, Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin, who was represented by Ojo Akindele, said the ITF is passionate about skills acquisition. He explained that its core mandate is human capacity development, and the management is ensuring that everyone is carried along.
Representing the parents, Dika Hussaini Mohammed, appreciated the facilitators and the students for dedicating 10 days to acquiring the skills. He solicited support from the government and the private sector to organise such programmes more often so that youths can gain employment.
