Economy
THE Nigeian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), a gender advocacy group, StandUp for Women Society (SWS) and the NYSC Legal Aid Community Development Service (CDS) have united to train out-of-school teenage mothers in legal education and vocational skills in Bayelsa State.
Although more than 100 teenage mothers have been captured to undergo the skills acquisition training, the facilitators said they would begin with 20 teenagers in the first phase of the programme.
The 20 teenagers were selected from the rural communities in Yenagoa Local Government and they will undergo training in Fashion Design, Catering, Make-Up and Hair Dressing for three months at the Bayelsa State Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (BSITH), Yenagoa.
Speaking yesterday at the launch at the BSITH, the Deputy Manager, Capacity Building, NCDMB, Mr. Timbiri Augustine, said the board attached importance to training and human capital development, hence the support for the training.
He hailed the stakeholders for initiating the training, noting that it was the first time “this category of persons will be captured by the board for skills acquisition training programme.”
Augustine said: “We have noted that employment is limited, but there is the entrepreneurship window that is open for all of us. There are only two ways to generate income either as a service provider or producer or both. This training will expose you to skills to become a service provider and a producer.
“We expect maximum commitments. You have a role to play. We are playing our own role, the trainers are expected to play their own role as you are also expected to play your own role and remain committed and align with our expectations. We want to thank the stakeholders involved in this training. NCDMB knows the importance of partnership, and collaboration is one of our key priorities.”
The Rector, BSITHI, Prof. Apuega Arikawie, praised the NCDMB for utilising the facilities offered by the institute for its training and for financing training programmes in the Niger Delta and the country at large.
He said: “As a way to empower teenage mothers to have a scheme for themselves to enable them take care of the child, the NCDMB thought it wise to sponsor this programme.
“The programme will make them entrepreneurs and reduce crime, poverty in the Niger Delta and vices bedevilling the area.”
The Chairperson, SWS, Bayelsa State chapter, Ms Eunice Nnachi, said the training was about social integration and giving hope to teenage mothers, who had found themselves in that condition.
She added that the trainees would be given stipends and starter packs to enable them become self-reliant.
Nnachi noted that over 100 teenage mothers had been captured and would undergo the skills acquisition training, which would be carried out in phases.
She said arrangements had been put in place to ensure that the programme was well monitored and supervised.
-The nation
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Tags: Eunice Nnachi NCDMB Prof. Apuega Arikawie Timbiri Augustine
