Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed
The Kwara State Government is to spend N17.1 million on 195 indigent students of the state at the International Vocational, Training and Entrepreneurship College (IVTEC), Ajase-Ipo.
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said this on Tuesday in Ilorin at a meeting with the Board of Trustees of the college led by its Chairman, Abiodun Adimula, a professor.
The governor said the full scholarship for the 195 students was under a special training programme of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) project.
Mr. Ahmed explained that the beneficiaries would be selected from the World Bank’s existing database and selection model.
He added that 13 candidates from the 195 would undergo any of the available 15 special certificate programmes for three months.
The governor also announced that indigenes of the state admitted to the college would enjoy 75 percent scholarship, disclosing that this would cover tuition fees and training tools.
He said the decision to give 70 percent scholarship to indigenes was necessitated by the need to expand access to global standards of education and training that would be offered at IVTEC without compromising quality.
According to Ahmed, the government will continue to emphasise its sponsorship model as well as its Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) scheme to ensure the sustenance of the college.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that full academic activities would commence on March 1 in the institution located at Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun Local Government Area.
Speaking earlier, Mr. Adimula had commended the governor for setting up the college.
He said the college would assist in solving the dearth of professional artisans in the country.
Mr. Adimula said IVTEC would be able to generate quality workmanship in Nigeria in order to mitigate the problems experienced in the quality of artisanship.
Also speaking, IVTEC Acting Rector, Ade Somide, said the institution had embarked on training of teachers.
Mr. Somide also stated that the college had expanded its enrolment base to 630 students per session, adding that this would reduce the cost of training the students.
(NAN)