Skills
The Catch Them Young Entrepreneurship Education Foundation (CTYEEF) says it is targeting 10 million school children across Nigeria and Africa with practical entrepreneurship, vocational and digital skills by 2040.
Mrs Unachukwu Nkolika, Programme Coordinator of the foundation, announced this at a media briefing to unveil the initiative on Friday in Lagos.
She said the foundation, a non-governmental organisation registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in 2025, was established to equip children with practical skills to prepare them for future economic opportunities.
Nkolika said the foundation’s pilot programme had commenced in 14 public schools across three local government areas of Lagos State: Ikeja, Eti-Osa and Ajeromi-Ifelodun.
She said the first phase would benefit about 750 pupils through the distribution of 1,500 textbooks and workbooks in Pre-Vocational Studies and Digital Literacy.
According to her, the N20.25 million intervention covers learning materials, teacher training and access to digital learning resources.
She said the programme was sponsored by Mr Anthony Anenechukwu of Glowfield International Group of Schools to mark his 50th birthday.
Nkolika said the initiative was designed to support the Federal Government’s new national curriculum, which introduced digital and pre-vocational learning at basic education level and six trade subjects at secondary school level.
“A curriculum on paper does not change a child’s life. It needs books in the hands of pupils, tools in the classroom and teachers who are confident to teach new subjects,” she said.
The programme coordinator called on governments, corporate organisations, entrepreneurs and development partners to support the initiative through school adoption, teacher training, mentorship and provision of learning resources.
She said the foundation would monitor learning outcomes, maintain records of beneficiaries and regularly report progress to ensure transparency and accountability.
Also speaking, Anthony Anenechukwu, the project partner, said the initiative would help address the limitations of an education system that placed excessive emphasis on academic performance and examination results.
He recalled that vocational education, which previously exposed pupils to practical skills, had gradually disappeared from the school system.
Anenechukwu observed that some pupils who performed poor academically in secondary school later became more financially successful because they acquired practical skills and entrepreneurial abilities.
“The new curriculum for promoting hands-on learning is a good initiative; pupils should be encouraged to acquire practical experience rather than depend solely on classroom instruction.
“For instance, if you are teaching a child how to repair mobile phones, the child should get the phone, open it up, examine it and fix it back,” he said.
He, however, identified teacher training as critical to achieving the objectives of the curriculum, noting that teachers must be equipped to deliver practical lessons effectively.
Anenechukwu said public schools should be prioritised because many lacked the financial resources to provide pupils with adequate learning materials.
He cited visits to public schools in Ikoyi, Lagos, where the team discovered that many pupils had little or no exposure to entrepreneurship education.(NAN)www.nannews.ng
LUC/VIV
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Edited by Vivian Ihechu
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
