By Bimbola Oyesola, Geneva, Switzerland, [email protected]
The 111th International Labour Conference (ILC) ended in Geneva, Switzerland, last week with a major achievement, adopting new apprenticeship standard, among other key decisions. Nigeria may be one of the countries that could benefit from this standard to reduce the high rate of unemployment in the country.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate, according to global audit and tax advisory firm, KPMG, is projected to rise to 40.6% as compared to 2022’s 37.7%.
KPMG in April detailed this forecast in its International Global Economic Outlook report, H1 2023 where it stated that, “unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialization, and slower than required economic growth and, consequently, the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants in the Nigerian job market every year.”
New standard
The new labour standard aims to support “opportunities for people of all ages to skill, re-skill and up-skill continuously” in rapidly changing labour markets.
It provides a clear definition of apprenticeships, specifies aspirational standards for quality apprenticeships, including rights and protection for apprentices.
Delegates attending the 111th ILC adopted the new Recommendation on Quality Apprenticeships which would address the global unemployment challenges.
The Director General, International Labour Organization (ILO) at the ILC closing ceremony commended the delegates on the great feat recorded during the conference.
“You should be proud of what you have accomplished. Your commitment to the mandate of the ILO, your skilled negotiations, your careful diplomacy, resulted in the adoption of several significant documents at this Conference,” he said.
“As we continue the ILO’s long journey to fulfil its mandate, we heard resounding and unequivocal support for a Global Coalition for Social Justice. Heads of State, Ministers of Labour and leaders of employers’ and workers’ organizations recognized the Global Coalition as an initiative that is timely and essential. We must now build on this momentum,” he added.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde who was at the Conference opined that Nigeria Government should make use of the new standard to tackle the issue of unemployment in the country.
Oyerinde in an interview with Daily Sun Workforce in Geneva noted that apprenticeship was a major Committee deliberation at the recently concluded ILC of the ILO, in Geneva, Switzerland.
“With the rising rate of unemployment in the world and Nigeria facing a major unemployment crisis, Apprenticeship has been identified as a veritable means of tackling the scourge. It is no gainsaying that with over 35% unemployment rate and a challenged economy like ours, Government must look beyond the usual to tackle the ticking time-bomb.”
The NECA Director General noted that . the conversation on Apprenticeship has gained prominence all over the world and there is no better time for the Government to address the current challenge of rising unemployment with a deliberate Apprenticeship policy.
He said, “It is pleasing to note that Nigeria is ahead of the world in the promotion of Apprenticeship and Technical and Vocational Skills Training through a Public-Private Partnership scheme with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).”
Oyerinde said NECA in partnership with ITF has championed the apprenticeship model of re-skilling the youth, noting that the project with ITF remained a model project, “equipping thousands of Nigerian youths with scalable skills and competencies that will make them relevant and useful in the Industry, thereby adding value to the economy.” He stated, “The ITF-NECA Project has also been adjudged by the ILO as a model for addressing unemployment and skills mismatch in the country. The outcome of the discussions of the Committee on Apprenticeship at the ILO also gave credence to the need to refocus on Apprenticeship and skills development.
The setting of a new international labour standard in the form of a Recommendation on Apprenticeship no doubt gained wide acceptance by the Constituents of the ILO”
He however urged the Federal government to as a matter of urgency address the rising unemployment and its many socio-economic consequences in the country.
He advised the Tinubu led government to give due attention to the formalization of Apprenticeship as a means of tackling the unemployment menace.
Oyerinde said the current established framework and Public Private Partnership model of the ITF-NECA already in place should be deepened for greater effect and impact.
He also charged that deliberate efforts should be made to encourage more private sector operators to support Apprenticeship with incentives that will motivate them to contribute effectively to the success and sustainability of the Scheme.