The first group of skilled and screened craftspeople and craftsmen will graduate from Research Links and Nerdzfactory’s groundbreaking Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Program on Saturday, November 9, 2024, in collaboration with the MasterCard Foundation.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce Building in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, will host the event. This event will also mark the debut of a novel digital portal that aggregates local apprenticeship options.
Through specialised training and business support programs for expert craftspeople and master crafters, this TVET Program, which is carried out by Research Links and Nerdzfactory, fosters the advancement of indigenous technical and vocational training for youth and MSMEs. To remove systemic barriers that prevent young trainees, artisans, and tradesmen from accessing high-quality apprenticeship opportunities, the program’s main goal is to increase local apprenticeship opportunities for youth and to support the businesses of artisans while promoting best practices and work policies. One of the program’s components is the introduction of a special online platform that would compile qualified and screened craft workers for convenient public access.
More than 200 carefully screened craftspeople and craftsmen from Ikeja, Ifako Ijaiye, and Agege, three Lagos local government districts, have so far been chosen for the program and given business development training, BrandSpur business and economy news reports.
To increase its impact and reach, the initiative plans to enroll a large number of craftspeople in the upcoming months. The approved artisans and tradesmen received training in key business areas, such as excellent working standards, operations and financial management, and digital literacy.
Mrs. Eme Young, Coordinator of Research Links Programs, had this to say: “Our partnership with the Mastercard Foundation in implementing this program is dedicated to ultimately supporting more young people – especially young women- access dignified and fulfilling work. To achieve this, the support provided to the master crafters is highly critical in ensuring the sustainability of their businesses and elevation of opportunities for the provision of quality services to the general public.”
Continuing, the director of the NerdzFactory, Ade Olowojoba, stated: “Local artisans and tradesmen, especially women in the informal sector, are mostly disenfranchised with lack of opportunities for technical upskilling and reskilling to enable them to compete with their peers in today’s world. This ultimately affects the quality of their knowledge and the work learned from them by millions of young apprentices in the country. The average artisan or tradesmen trains approximately 2 to 3 young people, especially young women, each year; scaling this program will enable us to provide more tailored support to all participants with expected impact across communities and areas where this intervention will be implemented.”
