A non-governmental organisation focused on educational success and advancement for students, Global Scholarship Trust (GST) has organised a career conference for undergraduate students in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to guide and inform them about opportunities in their chosen career paths.
The event with the theme; “I Am University-bound Material” featured career talk; course combination; choice of institution; credentials screening; instant admissions; scholarship opportunities etc.
In his address, president, Global Scholarship Trust, Dr John Adeniyi said GST Students’ Career Conference is aimed at unbarring educational access for grassroots prosperity.
“We are in this environment to bring the young people together to tell them about their career now, and career for the future. Since we are a scholarship organisation, to also tell them the available scholarship both home and abroad,” he added.
Adeniyi said the aim is not to only help students seek admission abroad, but to also expose them to opportunities abroad through scholarship.
While speaking on the impact of the initiative on Nigeria’s educational system, he said; “We have been able to interface with relevant government agencies like NCC, NUC, Federal Ministry of Education to improve on standard of education through the evaluation of our curriculum and ensuring that the quality assurance of our educational system is improved.
“In my capacity as director of accreditation for international curriculum and assessment network, in 2020 we were in 16 Colleges of Health Science and Technology to see how we can benchmark the quality assurance to meet international standards. We are doing our best to ensure that our youths and students while on campus are going to be employable after they graduate,” he said.
Speaking on the standard of education in the country, he said Nigeria is trying, but not where it ought to be. “In the World Best Education ranking system, Nigeria is nowhere to be found. There’s a need to improve our public university system. There should be a total overhauling. Also, capacity building for lecturers and teachers at all levels should be carried out periodically,” he noted.
He said, “You see our teachers moving in exodus to other countries to seek greener pastures. There is a need for more research centers to support development. The educational system is dragging, our curriculum needs to be reviewed because we are in the knowledge economy. What our children are learning can no longer sustain them after school. We need to rejig the system and bring in the right people in positions starting from the Minister of Education.”
On strategies for young people to build their careers, Adeniyi maintained that; “Guidance and Counseling in schools should be very effective, because that is where we are missing it. Many young Nigerians go to school with no one guiding them on what to do and the courses to choose.”
Also, the zonal coordinator for Municipal Area Council, Department of Mass Education, Nwaogu Victoria, who represented the director, while speaking, commended the organisers for the initiative, saying the programme is in line with the mandate of mass education.
She said FCT Department of Mass Education is involved in providing mass education for all. “We are in charge of what I will call second-chance education in FCT. Our mandate and target are to ensure that everyone has a skill before 2030.
“We offer free skill programmes. Example during the International Women’s Day, we trained over 131 women in the FCT in different skills on how to market their products digitally. In terms of literacy, we provide programmes in basic and post literacy where people acquire free education,” she said.
She revealed that FCT has the highest number of out-of-school children that migrated from various states and that the department is working tirelessly to reduce the numbers.
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