By Chris Onuoha

Track IT, a Microsoft authorized education partner engaged students on a one day empowerment programme tagged: “Tech-skills programme” to unveil a training package which will commence on February 17 and run for two weeks.

The programme held at Afe Babalola auditorium, University of Lagos last week, attracted students from University of Lagos, Command Day Secondary School, Ojo and other Schools within Lagos metropolis. It was a technology acquiring exercise that is meant to challenge the ICT knowledge of the students, empower the young ones in the society to enhance their technology portfolio and enable employment opportunities among other benefits. Facilitators from Microsoft and other experts from schools lectured the participants on the importance of adapting the new technology and utilizing it for positive purpose.

Albert Agha, founder, Track IT limited while speaking with journalists said, “We believe in impacting the Nigerian youths to enable them achieve more by using technologies. We see a lot of unemployment, ICT gap between the school curriculum and job space and we feel that we can use technology to bridge the gap and improve technological and employability skills among young people. We work as a partner to Microsoft, an authorized education partner for over six years. And we have also been there working with more than hundred schools across 12 states in Nigeria, impacting tech skills and driving it with validation certification since our inception in 2013. We are in relation with all the schools we have worked with till date and that shows that we are actually needed in those places,” says Agha.

Speaking further, he stated, “The achievements have been enormous and we get values from the schools we have impacted. The next thing we want to do is to engage them in competitions to drive productivity and full practical experience. Resultant outlays show that graduates of the universities we impacted, easily get jobs. We have interacted with both primary and secondary schools including tertiary institution where we practical demonstrated teaching with technology approach and engaging them with educational platforms.

“After this exercise, students will sign up with the programme and learn to improve their employability skills. Also, a lot of the participants will become Track IT affiliates and ambassadors that will take this awareness to their own domain enabling us to achieve the 1 million targets that we have mapped out to achieve.”

On a personal ground, Agha noted, “I am so passionate about the young people’s development because I noticed that they are actually the future that we have. The overall population of adults in Nigeria today is about 6.8%. The younger generation is on the larger percentage and must embrace this technology by signing up to the programme to get empowered technology wise.”

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The tech expert also noted that the first batch of the programme will start on February 17 as a flag off for the Southwest region, saying that the next programme for the Northern region is billed to commence in Abuja on Friday 7 which will including other states in Nigeria.

Jimo

This is the second time we are taking part in this particular programme. It has been a very successful programme and I would say it is useful because the students and teachers that have participated in it  show it in their performances both in class and outside because the proficiency is there. Apart from that, when it comes to technical knowhow that you can put to use,  you see that it is also useful.

Vanguard