The Lagos State Scholarship Board has paid a total sum of N218.795.000 million (two hundred and eighteen million, seven hundred and eighty five thousand naira) as bursary awards to a total number of 6,411 (six thousand four hundred and eleven) students of the state origin in various higher institutions of learning to support their education, while the sum of N217,732,955.44 million (two hundred and seventeen million, seven hundred and thirty-two thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five thousand naira, forty-four kobo was paid as scholarship awards to a total number of 981 beneficiaries.
Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Education, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this on Friday during the Year 2021 Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa, Ikeja, as part of the activities commemorating the second year anniversary of Governor Sanwo Olu in office.
Wahab said the Lagos State government has revealed that its job initiative skills designed for final year students and those in penultimate classes was aimed at equipping students with essential skills that would make them relevant and their services essential in the labour market.
The state government also disclosed that through its Jobs Lagos Initiative (JLI), a total of 28,000 final year students and those in penultimate classes across all the state-owned tertiary institutions have been trained in different employability skills, including entrepreneurship, work readiness tools, soft skills, market aligned courses, among others, to make them suitable for employment and be competitive in the global market.
He stated that the initiative was part of the measures put in place by the Lagos government to reduce unemployment rate in the state.
According to him, the jobs initiative programme of the state government is aimed at preparing final year and penultimate students of tertiary institutions for immediate entry into the workforce as employees and employers of labour by equipping them with the market aligned knowledge, soft skills, business tools and the mindset reorientation in the world of work.
Also at the event, the Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, disclosed that 15,000 primary school teachers were trained and equipped with technology devices through Eko Excel (Excellence in Child Education and Learning) programme tagged: “Leaving No Child Behind,” which is an initiative of the state government aimed at transforming teaching and learning in all government primary schools across the state using innovative technology devices and data-driven platform.
