Industrial Training in Nigeria is
almost in two phases; the first phase which can be termed Students Industrial
Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) and the other being Students Internship Program.
The first being for undergraduates and the latter being for graduates, though
both are sometimes mixed up and misinterpreted by many today.
However, today, the focus is on the
Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme, a program which has now become
mandatory for all undergraduates in acquiring a degree in any Nigerian tertiary
institution, that is, universities, polytechnics, and monotechnics or colleges
of education.
The SIWES is established by the Industrial
Training Fund in 1973 with the aim of solving the problem of lack of adequate
practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates
of tertiary institutions. It is an effort to bridge the gap existing between
theory and practice of engineering and technology, science, management,
medical, agriculture and other professional educational programmes in the
Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Main Objectives of SIWES
Here are some of the basic
objectives of SIWES outlined below:
1. To prepare the students for the
work situation they are likely to encounter after graduation, thereby providing
them the avenue to acquire industrial skills and experience in their different
course of study.
2. It helps to enlist and also
strengthen employers' involvement in the entire educational process of
preparing graduates for employment at different levels in their different fuel
of study.
3. It bridges the gap between
university theories and Industrial practices through exposition to real work
methods and techniques in equipment handling and machineries operation.
This write-up will not be complete
if the challenges experienced before and
during SIWES are not mentioned. From my little experience with people, I have
discovered that in many public institutions especially, only less than 30% of
any institution gets to complete scheduled I.T. Take for instance, a
university, only less than 30% of the students scheduled to go for I.T gets to
have a complete 6-months I.T program while the over 70% wander around for weeks
and months before getting a placement for their programme.
This could be largely due to many
reasons such as students' lack of early search for placement, ignorance,
companies selection based on grades, course of study not a major need in the
employment world, students too money-focused, companies unwillingness and many
more.
This is a growing concern which needs
to be corrected in our time. I have seen people who had just a month of
Industrial Training, I have seen some who couldn't get a placement till their
resumption back to school and I have as well seen those who had a complete year
I.T (polytechnics) and a complete 6-months I.T (universities); like the Bible
said, time and chance happen to them all. At least, I couldn't get a complete
I.T experience myself and I can say it well that I started out my I.T at a firm
that has no relation to my field, engineering and I still had to spend at least
#500.00 daily without any salary or bonus paid in return. I was only determined
to start working somewhere without waiting for the right placement and
after a while, about a month, I got a placement in my field of study.
Good to also note that we all cannot
get our place of comfort in our search for placement, some get their on a
platter of gold while some others on a platter of silver and bronze and even
some on a platter of wood, the most important thong is to ensure you are
focused wherever you find yourself. However, it is no one's fault but your if
you couldn't get a placement for your I.T, there are placements everywhere, you
are just being selective.
In conclusion, every students
anticipating to go for I.T must be ready to subject himself under the
authorities he/she finds himself or herself and ready to comply with the rules
of the organisation, no matter how big or small the enterprise may be. Also a
note to some industrial authorities, to please treat all trainees well with
good integrity and fear of God and not as slaves or servants. It is a truth
they have come to learn bit they have not come to serve us. Let us accord unto
the students respect and honor accorded unto other staffs in organisation.
May God help our education system,
God help the Labour Market and God help Nigeria.
