The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has approved a total of N15.5 million in seed funding and grants for final year students of the state-owned higher institutions enrolled in the Ready Set Work (RSW) programme.
The Ready Set Work is an entrepreneurship and employability training programme for final year students of tertiary institutions in the state, aimed at preparing them for economic productivity as value-creating employees or employers of labour.
The initiative, which began in June, involved 500 promising final year students of the state University (LASU), Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) and the state College of Health Technology (LASCOHET), who enrolled in a rigorous curriculum either in the employability or the entrepreneurship track.
At the end of the programme, over 90 top performing students in the employability track will be placed on six-month internship positions with organisations like PwC, SystemSpecs, FCMB, GTBank, Access Bank, Total, Jobberman, Stutern, among others.
With Ambode’s recent financial commitment to the programme, up to 80 students in the entrepreneurship track will also be opportune to partake in three to six-month apprenticeships where they can learn the tricks of the trade, understand and develop processes for various business functions, and build a network of vendors, industry peers and mentors.
Reacting to the development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh said, “our focus from the onset has been providing students in Lagos with the tools, knowledge and know-how to become effective employees or job creators.
“We have already secured 90 internship slots for students in the employability track of the programme and we realised that students in the entrepreneurship track could also benefit from the experience in a structured, supervised work setting, where they can learn the rudiments of running a business effectively.”
He said the N15.5 million would also provide seed funding and working capital for the top three teams to emerge from the RSW business pitch competition, which would hold on September 3.
This announcement comes as the 13-week programme enters its penultimate week. A graduation ceremony has been scheduled for next month to celebrate the achievements of students who successfully complete their courses.
