The Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained 100 teachers in primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom on entrepreneurship development education.
The Director General of SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya, declared open the capacity-building workshop for entrepreneurship tagged National School Entrepreneurship programme (N-SEP), under its Mind Shift Entrepreneurship Programme in Uyo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was to equip the teachers with adequate business skills to enable them to translate the ideas to their students and pupils.
Fasanya said that through the programme, the teachers would be able to awaken the business consciousness of the students and d pupils by inculcating in them the culture of entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
“The Mind Shift Entrepreneurship Programme is designed to engage the vibrant energy of our students and youths and channel it into productive venture creation.
“The programme is to provide access to functional and hands-on entrepreneurship/financial literacy and community service education to every primary and secondary student in Nigeria.
“The programme will stimulate and facilitate the culture of entrepreneurship and community service in primary and secondary schools across Nigeria, with the view to assisting students in exhibiting creativity and innovation,” he said.
According to him, the national school entrepreneurship programme is to prepare the pupils and students for the 4th industrial revolution.
“There is a paradigm shift in today’s education. It is no more ‘go to school, get good grades and get a good job.’
“It is ‘go to school, get good grades and acquire skills of being your own boss, start your business,” Fasanya added.
The director general said that under the programme, the agency had trained 3,000 teachers in 29 states of the federation from 2017 to date, adding that the remaining seven states would be covered before the end of 2022.
In her opening remarks, the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet, said that entrepreneurship was indispensable for a nation to succeed in an ever-changing and more competitive global market.
Etiebet, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs Rose Bassey, said that the inclusion of entrepreneurial education in school curriculum would boost the standard of education.
She said it would also provide students with the knowledge needed for learning and acquiring skills to become self-employed.
“The knowledge so gained would be transferred to our children in schools and encourage them to acquire skills which transform them to entrepreneurs,” Etiebet said.
She said that the state ministry of education was proud to be associated with SMEDAN on the timely and welcomed innovation.
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The commissioner said the knowledge and experience so gained by the participants would enable them to become positive change agents in society.
Etiebet urged the participants to embrace the programme, exhibit a high level of discipline and concentrate throughout the training period to become good ambassadors of their schools.
In his goodwill message, Mr Ime Edoho, Chairman, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) Akwa Ibom chapter, commended SMEDAN for being serious about entrepreneurship development and MSMEs in the country.
A participant, Mr Ubongabasi Ikpe, said the training would equipped them to create enterprise from teaching English Language, Mathematics and other subjects.
NAN reports that the training which drew participants across primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District will last for three days.
(NAN)
